Canadian mushroom producer Highline sold to Irish company

Highline Produce Limited, a Leamington, Ont.-based mushroom producer, is being sold to Ireland’s Fyffe’s plc for a reported $145 million.

Highline is a fully integrated mushroom business with five facilities in Ontario and Quebec. As the largest operator in the mushroom industry in Canada, it markets approximately 58 million pounds (26.3 million kg) of mushrooms per year.

Highline’s experienced management team, led by CEO Glenn Martin, will continue to run the business, according to a Highline press release. All of Highline’s five Canadian locations will remain in operation with business as usual for Highline’s 1,150 employees.

“Highline is a very fine business with a strong position in an important product category. We look forward to working with Glenn Martin and his management team to continue to develop the business. This transaction fits perfectly with Fyffes strategic objective of adding an additional product to its existing three through the acquisition of an established, successful, integrated operator in a category with significant scale,” says Fyffes Chairman David McCann.

Fyffes has been in the fresh produce business for more than 125 years. It is a producer, shipper and marketer of bananas, melons and pineapples with operations in Europe, the United States, Central and South America.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this transaction and joining Fyffes, given its long history and successful track record of growth. We already operate some of the most state-of-the-art mushroom facilities in North America, and this arrangement will give us access to a global market leader in fresh produce. Our values are strongly aligned, and we look forward to working with Fyffes management as we continue to grow our business together into the future,”says Highline CEO Glenn Martin.