A southern Manitoba company making tile pipe for the agricultural market is about to become the Canadian arm of a U.S. competitor.
Minnesota-based Prinsco announced last week it has bought AccuPipe of Winkler, Man. for an undisclosed sum — and also plans to set up a second facility at Taber in southern Alberta.
The sale of AccuPipe, which makes high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe for drainage, is expected to close in the next 30 days, Prinsco said, after which AccuPipe will officially become Prinsco Canada.
Prinsco said it expects to have its plant at Taber, about 50 km east of Lethbridge, up and running in the spring of 2014, “manufacturing and stocking a full line of pipe and accessories.”
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AccuPipe co-founder Chris Untau said Prinsco, as the company’s new owner, “can help build on the success of AccuPipe by offering an expanded product line, vast technical expertise, and a full network of customer service and engineering support.”
Tile drainage, Unrau said, has proven itself in Western Canada as a technique to improve yields and reduce risk.
Unrau also runs Precision Land Solutions, a Winkler company specializing in design and installation of “water management solutions” such as tile and surface drainage and said that company “will continue to work closely (with Prinsco) to advance the use of water management practices.”
“Our company vision is to provide industry-leading solutions for agricultural efficiency and water quality, which is critically important in the Canadian Prairies,” Jamie Duininck, Prinsco’s vice-president of sales, said in the company’s release.
Prinsco, he said, is “committed” to provide farmers with “access to water management products that can take them to the next level of success in creating more productive fields and building land values.”
Prinsco, which has operated since 1975, is based at Willmar, Minn., about 130 km west of Minneapolis, and operates manufacturing plants in Minnesota and seven other states. –– AGCanada.com Network
