ADM & Lesaffre Announce Joint Venture to Construct Yeast Plant in Iowa

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) (Decatur, Illinois) and joint venture partner Lesaffre et Cie (Lille, France) have formed a joint venture business named Red Star Yeast LLC (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and plan to construct a new yeast manufacturing plant at ADM's corn processing plant (Plant 1520569) located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The joint venture will involve ADM providing the financing and the property for the project and Lesaffre will be responsible for building the plant, selecting contractors, procuring and installing the equipment, and day-to-day operations of the plant. Most of the equipment will be purchased and fabricated in Europe and shipped to Cedar Rapids for installation.

A yet to be named Lesaffre project contact will establish an office at the ADM plant later this month and will be responsible for coordinating the construction effort, hiring contractors, and readying the plant for start-up.

Cost estimates on the multi-million project were unavailable but sources close to the plan said the plant will be the largest single capital investment made in Cedar Rapids in the last ten years.

Preliminary construction activity is scheduled to begin around May of this year and the project is expected to take 14 to 16 months to complete.

Lesaffre Yeast Corporation originated from an agricultural background back in 1853. The Lesaffre family has built up a range of production activities aimed at the food industry and today is a world leader in the production of yeast and yeast extracts. The company acquired Red Star Yeast back in 2001 from Universal Foods Corporation for $125 million.

Archer Daniels Midland Company is a world leader in agricultural processing and one of the world's largest processors of soybeans, corn, wheat and cocoa. ADM is also a leader in the production of soy meal and oil, ethanol, corn sweeteners, flour and value-added food and feed ingredients.