Frontier Agriculture has made an offer to buy the Aberdeen Grain co-operative storage facility at Whiterashes, near Old Meldrum in Aberdeenshire.
The proposal, which has the support of both boards, has been shared with Aberdeen Grain members. The two companies are now in a period of due diligence over the move, with a formal member vote on the proposal expected in the spring.
If the proposal is approved, ownership of the store would transfer to Frontier, and the Aberdeen Grain co-operative would be wound up in the normal way for member-owned businesses of this type.
A joint statement says that under Frontier ownership, Aberdeen Grain members would be able to continue to access the store on the same basis as they have over the past five years. Grain from harvest 2026 onwards would be handled through agreements with Frontier linked to existing tonnage allocations. The proposed structure also has the potential to support more stable returns for members in the current market environment.
Should members support a change of ownership, all existing Aberdeen Grain staff would transfer to Frontier with no redundancies envisaged. Grain currently in storage will continue to be marketed as normal, with members expecting payment in August in the usual way.
In the meantime, the two companies say they will continue to work together constructively as the process progresses.
Aberdeen Grain was founded in 1984 with 32 members and 20,000 tonnes of storage, since when it has grown to its present 65,000 tonnes capacity and 180 members. Frontier has been marketing the co-operative’s grain since 2014, when it took over that function from Openfield.
Bruce Ferguson, who has been Aberdeen Grain’s managing director since 2004, is also Frontier’s Scotland general manager.