Topic: How To Invest

Hello Pat: I live in Vancouver and I have noticed an increase in shipping traffic – presumably resources to China. I would like your opinion on an idea to profit from this. What are your thoughts on Viterra? Viterra should be poised to profit from demand for grains in Asia, particularly with its recent acquisition in Australia. Thanks for all your excellent advice!

Article Excerpt

Viterra Inc., $9.31, symbol VT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 371.6 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion), is a Regina, Saskatchewan-based agri-business. Through its prairie-wide grain-handling and marketing network, the company distributes crops grown in the Prairie Provinces to markets in North America and around the world. The company changed its name from Saskatchewan Wheat Pool after it bought Agricore United for $1.3-billion in May 2007. Agricore’s main businesses are grain handling and merchandising, as well as crop-production and livestock services. Agricore also sells a wide range of goods and services to western-Canadian farmers, and markets their crops domestically and internationally. On September 23, 2009, Viterra completed its purchase of Australia’s ABB Grain Ltd., for $1.4 billion in cash and shares. Like Viterra, ABB provides grain-handling and shipping services. It mainly serves farmers in Australia. To help pay for ABB, Viterra sold 56.3 million common shares for $8.00 each. It also issued 78.3 million shares to ABB investors. Together, these moves raised…