Canadian agribusiness Richardson International Ltd. announced Thursday that its subsidiary, Richardson Oilseed (US) Holdings Ltd., has struck a deal to purchase Italgrani USA Inc., North America’s biggest durum milling firm.

According to the terms of the deal, Richardson Oilseed will assume ownership of a milling facility in St. Louis, MO that focuses on semolina and durum flour, as well as three storage and crop inputs facilities in North Dakota. The company will also acquire a commodity trading office in Minneapolis, MN.

“This acquisition is fully aligned with our long-term strategic goals of diversification, geographic expansion, and an increased presence in food processing – having gone from canola to oats and now to durum processing,” said Richardson International President and CEO Curt Vossen in a statement. “The significant scale of processing capability of the Italgrani plant, combined with origination opportunities and crop inputs retail facilities, all included in this transaction, will further enhance the services we will be able to offer to our producer customers, both in Canada and the US.”

If the transaction is approved by regulators, Richardson will take on 100% of shares of Italgrani USA and retain the firm’s existing workforce.

“The Italgrani team is pleased to be joining the Richardson International family of companies and looks forward to working together to further grow and expand the Italgrani USA business footprint,” James Meyer, president of Italgrani USA, said in the release. “Our two companies are well aligned in that we are both focused on customer service, innovative solutions, and being good stewards of resources.”

Richardson said in June that it is constructing a new high throughput grain elevator in Carmichael, SK. Slated to reach completion next fall, the project includes 46,000 mt of storage capacity with a loop rail track that can load 175 high cube rail cars, as well as high-speed receiving and load out and a high capacity grain cleaning system.