In a March 2^nd release, Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) announced acquisition of the assets of Creighton Brothers LLC, for $129 million.

Creighton Brothers was established in 1925 and operates egg production facilities including pullet and layer housing, egg packing installations. A subsidiary, Crystal Lake LLC, manufactures and distributes further-processed egg products.

Creighton Brothers houses 3.2 million hens of which 14 percent are cage-free in addition to 900,000 pullets, with a feed mill, egg packing and processing facilities and 1,000 acres of land near Warsaw, IN.

The acquisition represents a unit price of $36 per hen although it is noted that additional capital will be required to increase the proportion of hens in other than conventional cages, should this be required.

Sherman Miller, CEO of Cal-Maine Foods noted, “The acquisition of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake advances our strategy by expanding the scale and geographic reach of our shell egg platform across both specialty eggs and conventional eggs adding meaningful growth to our portfolio.”  He added, “Importantly, we further our internal sourcing strategy for key egg-based ingredients for our prepared foods business-strengthening supply security, improving margins and driving greater operational efficiency.”

Mindy Truex, president of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake, stated, “With mixed personal emotions and great pride, I am excited to see the legacy of Hobart and Russell Creighton and their families continue and grow with the new family at Cal-Maine.”