Serres Sagami confirmed on Friday that they would acquire all assets from Serres du Saint-Laurent, producer of the brand Savoura. Serres Sagami promise to keep all 190 employees and ensure that no personnel reorganisation is planned. Thanks to this acquisition, the company now has 25 hectares in Quebec. They become the largest greenhouse producer in Quebec and one of the largest in Canada.
This acquisition notably allows Serres Sagami to get their hands on Savoura, and four gigantic greenhouses that total 140,000 metres squared. The value of the transaction has yet to be revealed.
Les Serres du Saint Laurent had been bankrupt since February. Due to demands from their secured creditors, the Quebec Higher Court appointed a receiver - the firm Raymond Chabot, to try to sell the companies assets. The company's debt to their two secured creditors, The National Bank of Canada and The Royal Bank of Canada reach $10 million and $6.1 million respectively. The company owed over $20 million in total to creditors.
Les Serres du Saint-Laurent was founded in 1988 by the Gosselin and Gauvin families and have over 94,000 plants in Portneuf, producing over 210,000 tons of Savoura tomatoes per week. They have a similar production in their three other greenhouses (126,000 plants).
This is a fifth acquisition for Serres Salami since the start of 2000, and the second in less than six months. In December they got their hands on Serres Lacoste, whose tomatoes should be on the shelves in a couple of weeks.
Serres Sagami markets different varieties of tomatoes for the Quebecan, Canadian and North American market under the brands Sagami and Biologico.