Canadian Company Goes Global

I was sitting at the Chiropractor's office today just waiting for my appointment, and I picked up a copy of today's 'National Post.' I found a rather interesting article about a company called 'Agrium.' Now in this article, it describes the strength of the agricultural sector right now and how Agrium has recently been acquiring a few other companies and have effectively placed themselves in the global marketplace. Not bad for a Canadian based company.

I think the strength of the Canadian dollar against the 'greenback' has contributed the recent acquisitions of Agrium. A stronger dollar will give you more buying power. This has been some of the best financial news I've heard since the dollar began its rise to par. As I write this article the little 'widget' I have on my side bar is telling me that the Canadian dollar has slipped a little to just under par, but its still close to the greenback. Back to Agrium, the latest release was the acquisition of U.A.P. Holding Corporation for a very large sum, I believe the article states the sum as $2.65 billion U.S.D.. Agrium gains $1 billion in equity as well as their stocks trading higher on stock exchanges.

Is this just the first of more possible purchases between Canadian companies and American? Well since Canadians have been outraged about higher prices here in Canada compared to prices in the U.S., people have be doing some cross border shopping to get the most out of their dollar. I can't really blame them, but now we have new sales praising the dollars recent rise, whether or not that will discourage cross border shopping remains to be seen. With a stronger Canadian dollar, retailers are forced to lower prices to prevent cross border shopping, but the dollar has been on the rise for more than year, we should have seen a decrease before having to go to the media or cross the border for shopping just to get retailers to listen to us.

Sources:AGRIUM-UAP DEAL LAUDED
Image:deltafarmland.ca