Fifth-generation family businesses seal Scottish grain store deal

Simpsons Malt has struck a deal to swallow the grain merchanting business of WN Lindsay, encompassing four stores in Scotland.

The four stores, which are situated at Gladsmuir in East Lothian, Stracathro in Angus, pictured, Keith in Morayshire and Sidlaw in Perthshire, will provide more than 200,000 tonnes of extra in-house grain storage.

The acquisition, which is subject to ongoing due diligence, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It will see Simpsons Malt, headquartered in Berwick-upon-Tweed, operate four of WN Lindsay’s stores in Scotland within a new subsidiary which will retain the Lindsay name.

The four stores, which are situated at Gladsmuir in East Lothian, Stracathro in Angus, Keith in Morayshire and Sidlaw in Perthshire, will provide more than 200,000 tonnes of extra in-house grain storage.

The acquisition comes two months after Simpsons announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire 40 acres of land in Rothes, Speyside, subject to planning and due diligence, where it intends to build a state-of-the-art maltings with malting barley storage facilities, increasing its number of sites in the UK from two to three.

Tim McCreath, managing director of Simpsons Malt, said: “WN Lindsay 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.”

Andrew Lindsay, managing director of WN Lindsay, 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.”

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