Benson Hill to sell Fresh business for $21m

Benson Hill has entered into an agreement to divest its Fresh business in a two-part transaction for an aggregate purchase price of $21 million.

The divestiture will enable the food tech company to focus on global opportunities across its ingredients segment and to meet growing demand for its soybean product portfolio.

Benson Hill’s CFO, Dean Freeman, commented: “We believe there is tremendous opportunity to grow our proprietary ingredients portfolio in the food, oil and aquaculture markets. Selling the Fresh business enhances our focus and further enables disciplined capital allocation in support of our strategic growth objectives.”

A statement from Benson Hill said it “intends to use proceeds from the divestiture to supplement its plans to fully fund the business, inclusive of debt repayments, and execute its previously announced strategic initiatives”.

In December, Benson Hill closed the first part of the transaction through the divestiture of its Vero Beach, Florida, facility, real estate, and packhouse to Florida-based diversified agribusiness, IMG Enterprises, for a purchase price of $18 million.

Timothee Sallin, co-CEO of IMG Enterprises, said: “The acquisition of these assets and business is a perfect fit for our future growth plans…The cold storage and distribution facility in Vero Beach is ideally located for us to expand our operations and more efficiently service customers in the Southeast United States. The additional farmland will allow for further crop diversification and expansion of our core products.”

During Q2 of 2023, the remaining Fresh business is expected to be sold to IMG Enterprises for $3 million, in accordance with a stock purchase agreement and subject to customary adjustments.