Simpsons Malt to buy Keith site of grain merchant W.N. Lindsay Ltd
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A KEITH grain storage site is set to have a new owner by the end of the year.
Simpsons Malt, the fifth-generation family malting and merchanting business, has agreed to buy the long-standing grain merchanting business of W.N. Lindsay Ltd.
The acquisition, which is subject to ongoing due diligence, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
It will see the Berwick-upon-Tweed based Simpsons Malt operate four of W.N. Lindsay Ltd’s stores in Scotland within a new subsidiary company which will retain the name of W.N. Lindsay Ltd.
The four stores, in Fife Keith, Gladsmuir in East Lothian, Stracathro in Angus and Sidlaw in Perthshire, will provide more than 200,000 tonnes of extra in-house grain storage.
Two months ago Simpsons Malt announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire 40 acres of land in Rothes, where it hopes to build a state-of-the-art maltings with malting barley storage facilities.
Andrew Lindsay, managing director of W.N. Lindsay Ltd, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to agree the purchase of our family business by Simpsons Malt.
"The combination of two fifth-generation family businesses with more than 300 years of history will enhance the supply chain across Scotland and I believe Simpsons Malt’s vision for the future aligns closely to that of our colleagues, suppliers and customers."
Tim McCreath, managing director of Simpsons Malt, added: "W.N. Lindsay Ltd is an established, well- known family business with an excellent reputation in Scottish and UK agriculture and we are delighted to have the opportunity to acquire its grain merchanting business.
"This combination provides a strategic opportunity to further secure our malting barley supply chain, as well as to increase our product and service offering to our growers.
"All suppliers within the cereal supply chain are increasingly accountable to the end user and even the consumer – particularly on product traceability and sustainability – and as a pivotal buyer of malting barley and supplier of malt, we are ideally placed to play a leading role in improving supply chain management for the benefit of our growers, as well as our distilling and brewing customers.
"W.N. Lindsay Ltd’s people and infrastructure will complement our own and, together with our ongoing investment in business systems and processes, this acquisition will be a positive step for the entire cereal and malt supply chain."
W.N. Lindsay Ltd boasts the largest grain storage capacity in Scotland, with its roots reaching back to 1864. It operates six sheds, 12 silos and three driers at the Keith site, which was the first grain store acquired by the firm in 1973.
