UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS
PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(Mark one)
| x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended February 27, 2005
OR
| ¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to .
Commission File Number 333-111710
United Agri Products, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| Delaware | 47-0621017 | |
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
| 7251 W. 4th Street, Greeley, Colorado | 80634 | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) | |
(970) 356-4400
(Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has: (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the company was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the company is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).
Yes ¨ No x
The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of May 24, 2005 was zero. The registrant did not have publicly traded voting or non-voting common equity as of the last business day of August 29, 2004, which was the last day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter.
The number of shares outstanding of the registrants common stock as of May 24, 2005 was 1,000.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
| PART I | 4 | |||
| Item 1. |
4 | |||
| Item 2. |
12 | |||
| Item 3. |
13 | |||
| Item 4. |
13 | |||
| PART II | 14 | |||
| Item 5. |
14 | |||
| Item 6. |
15 | |||
| Item 7. |
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
16 | ||
| Item 7A. |
31 | |||
| Item 8. |
32 | |||
| Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures |
71 | ||
| Item 9A. |
71 | |||
| Item 9B. |
71 | |||
| PART III | 72 | |||
| Item 10. |
72 | |||
| Item 11. |
76 | |||
| Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management |
78 | ||
| Item 13. |
82 | |||
| Item 14. |
85 | |||
| PART IV | 86 | |||
| Item 15. |
86 | |||
| 89 | ||||
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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events, future revenue or performance, capital expenditures, financing needs, plans or intentions relating to acquisitions, business trends and other information that is not historical information and, in particular, appear under the heading Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. When used in this Report, the words estimates, expects, anticipates, projects, plans, intends, believes, forecasts, foresees, likely, may, should, goal, target, and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us on the date of this Report.
These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including, among other things, the matters discussed in this Report in Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsRisk Factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may include, among others:
| | general economic and business conditions; |
| | industry trends; |
| | restrictions contained in our debt agreements; |
| | our substantial leverage, including the inability to generate the necessary amount of cash to service our existing debt and the incurrence of substantial indebtedness in the future; |
| | the seasonality of our business and weather conditions; |
| | the possibility of liability for pollution and other damage that is not covered by insurance or that exceeds our insurance coverage; |
| | increased competition in the markets in which we operate; |
| | our dependence on rebate programs to attain profitability; |
| | our dependence on a limited number of key executives who we may not be able to adequately replace if they leave our company; |
| | changes in government regulations, agricultural policy and environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; |
| | changes in business strategy, development plans or cost savings plans; |
| | the loss of any of our major suppliers or the bankruptcy or financial distress of our customers; |
| | the ability to attain and maintain any price increases for our products; |
| | availability, terms and deployment of capital; and |
| | other factors over which we have little or no control. |
There may be other factors, including those discussed elsewhere in this Report, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results referred to in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf apply only as of the date of this Report and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this Report. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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Unless the context requires otherwise, all references to Company, we, us, ours and United Agri Products refer specifically to United Agri Products, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Additionally, all references to UAP Holding Corp. refer specifically only to UAP Holding Corp., the parent of United Agri Products, Inc., excluding its subsidiaries, and all references to United Agri Products, Inc. refer specifically only to United Agri Products, Inc., excluding its subsidiaries.
We operate on a 52-or 53-week year. Our fiscal years 2003, 2004 and 2005 ended on February 23, 2003, February 22, 2004 and February 27, 2005, respectively. Our fiscal years in 2003 and 2004 contained 52 weeks, and our fiscal year in 2005 contained 53 weeks. Fiscal years are identified in this Report according to the calendar year in which they ended. For example, the fiscal year ended February 27, 2005 is referred to herein as fiscal 2005.
| Item 1. | Business. |
OVERVIEW
We are the largest independent distributor of agricultural and non-crop inputs in the United States and Canada. We market a comprehensive line of products including chemicals, seeds and fertilizers to growers and regional dealers. As part of our product offering, we provide a broad array of value-added services including crop management, biotechnology advisory services, custom blending, inventory management and custom applications of crop inputs. The products and services we offer are critical to growers because they lower the overall cost of crop production and improve crop quality and yield. As a result of our broad scale and scope, we provide leading agricultural input companies with an efficient means to access a highly fragmented customer base of farmers and growers.
We have a comprehensive network of approximately 330 distribution and storage facilities and three formulation plants, strategically located in the major crop-producing areas of the United States and Canada. Our integrated sales network covers over 40,000 active stock keeping units, or SKUs, supported by approximately 1,100 sales people. This network of facilities, together with our technical expertise, enables us to efficiently process, distribute and store products close to our end-users and to supply our customers on a timely basis during the compressed planting and growing season. In addition, our widespread geographical presence provides a diversified base of sales that helps to insulate our overall business from difficult farming conditions in any one area as a result of poor weather or adverse market conditions for specific crops or regions.
We distribute products manufactured by the worlds leading agricultural input companies, including BASF, Bayer, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta, as well as ConAgra International Fertilizer Company. We believe we are among the largest customers of agricultural inputs of these suppliers and have long-standing relationships with these companies. We also distribute products from over 300 other suppliers as well as over 220 of our own proprietary private label products. Our extensive infrastructure is a critical element of our suppliers route-to-market, as it enables them to reach a highly fragmented customer base. As of February 27, 2005, we had approximately 80,000 customers, with our ten largest customers accounting for approximately 4% of our net sales in fiscal 2005. Our customers include commercial growers and regional dealers, as well as consumers in non-crop markets. Our significant scale provides our customers with an efficient and cost-effective method of purchasing agricultural and non-crop inputs.
United Agri Products was initially formed by ConAgra Foods through a series of acquisitions, beginning in May 1978 with the acquisition of a 49% interest in a group of companies engaged in the domestic distribution of agricultural chemicals. ConAgra Foods purchased the remaining 51% from several remaining stockholders in 1980. In 1983, United Agri Products acquired AgChem, Inc., and in 1985 acquired Cropmate Company Inc.
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United Agri Products expanded its business into Canada through the 1988 purchase of Pfizer Canada, and in 1991 acquired Donnell Agriculture. After a series of additional acquisitions, on November 24, 2003, ConAgra Foods sold United Agri Products and its related businesses to UAP Holding Corp., which we refer to as the Acquisition. UAP Holding Corp.s only asset is the ownership of 100% of the outstanding capital stock of United Agri Products, Inc. UAP Holding Corp. consummated the initial public offering of its common stock in November 2004, which we refer to as the Common Stock Offering.
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND TRENDS
The agricultural inputs market in the United States was estimated at $27.7 billion in 2003 and has grown at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 3.0% over the past ten years, as measured by total revenues, according to the most recent available survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The growth is due to, among other things, continued population growth; the use of more effective chemicals and fertilizers; stable planted acreage; the trend towards larger and more efficient farms; and the increased adoption of seed with enhanced technology. The three primary product categories of the agricultural inputs and non-crop market are chemicals, seed and fertilizer. We also operate in the non-crop market that consists of turf and ornamental (golf courses, resorts, nurseries and greenhouses), pest control operators, forestry and vegetation management. We estimate this market to be approximately $3.0 billion and believe it is growing.
Chemicals. Agricultural chemicals expenditures in the United States were approximately $8.4 billion in 2003, according to the most recent available survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Since 1997, the volume of agricultural chemicals sold in the United States has increased, but overall revenues have remained essentially flat, as lower-priced generic products have replaced higher-priced patented products, according to the same survey. This product category includes: (i) herbicides, which keep weed infestations from depriving crops of plant nutrients and water; (ii) insecticides, which keep insects from damaging crops; and (iii) fungicides, which guard against plant diseases.
Seed. Seed expenditures in the United States were approximately $9.3 billion in 2003, according to the most recent available survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The seed market in the United States has experienced significant growth since 1997, according to the same survey, driven primarily by increased pricing as a result of improvements in seed technology. In particular, biological traits are becoming genetically engineered into seeds, either increasing farm efficiencies with respect to labor and equipment, reducing the need for chemical treatment, or providing output trait benefits such as drought tolerance or high oil content. These traits include providing a plant with the ability to resist pests without a chemical application and the ability of a plant to selectively resist herbicides. These technological improvements, together with the availability of more productive seed hybrids, have resulted in higher crop yields.
Fertilizer. Fertilizer expenditures in the United States were approximately $10.0 billion in 2003, according to the most recent available survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Since 1997, the volume of fertilizer sold in the United States has increased, but overall revenues have remained essentially flat, due largely to falling prices as a result of overproduction, according to the same survey. Fertilizers are added to soil to replace or supplement one or more deficient nutrients necessary for plant growth. Nearly all-commercial crops grown in the United States and Canada today are produced with the use of a commercial fertilizer, as modern crop varieties and higher yields cannot be sustained by other methods.
Agricultural input manufacturers vary by product category and include major international chemical, fertilizer and seed companies such as BASF, Bayer Crop Science, ConAgra International Fertilizer Company, Dow AgroScience, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta. Agricultural input distributors represent the main route-to-market for chemicals and fertilizer products, by providing access to a highly fragmented customer base of approximately two million growers, dealers and non-crop customers in the United States and Canada.
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BUSINESS OPERATIONS
We operate our business through two primary divisions: Distribution and Products. The Distribution Division, which accounted for approximately 99% of our net sales in fiscal 2005 purchases agricultural input products from third parties and resells these products, together with our own proprietary and private label products, to growers and regional dealers. As of February 27, 2005, the Distribution Division maintained a network of approximately 330 facilities throughout the United States and Canada. The Products Division accounted for approximately $27.0 million, or 1%, of our net sales to third parties in fiscal 2005. The Products Division markets, sources, formulates and packages our proprietary and private label products and provides formulation and packaging services for our suppliers. Sales of proprietary and private label chemical and seed products, including sales made by the Distribution Division, accounted for approximately 13.3% of our total chemical and seed sales in fiscal 2005 compared to 12.2% in fiscal 2004. As of February 27, 2005, the Products Division consisted of three formulation facilities that produce crop protection chemicals, and plant nutrition products.
Distribution Division
We operate distribution centers serving both wholesalers and individual growers. Retail centers typically service growers within a 10 to 50 mile radius of their locations. We operate retail centers in each major crop-producing region of the United States and Canada. Our distribution network, though centrally organized, is internally divided by region. The following table identifies these various regions, the states served (subject to occasional overlap), the major crops serviced, the approximate number of employees (including hourly and temporary employees) and the total net sales for each region in fiscal 2005:
| Region |
States/Provinces Served |
Major Crops Serviced |
Employees |
Fiscal 2005 Net Sales (dollars in millions) | |||||
| Coastal |
AL, AZ, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VA, VT, WA, WV | Tree fruits, nuts, vines, vegetables, rice, cotton, alfalfa, corn, peanuts, wheat and tobacco | 774 | $ | 1,004.7 | ||||
| Northern |
IA, IL, IN, MN, MO, MT, ND, SD, WI | Corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, sunflowers, potatoes and sugar beets | 1,323 | $ | 690.7 | ||||
| Southern |
AR, CO, KY, KS, LA, MS, NE, NM, OK, TN, TX, WY | Cotton, soybeans, rice, peanuts and corn | 791 | $ | 712.7 | ||||
| Canada |
AB, BC, MN, NB, NS, ON, PEI, QU, SK | Tree fruits, vegetables, soybeans, corn, wheat, canola and tobacco | 98 | $ | 71.6 | ||||
We sell a complete line of products and services to growers through our distribution facilities, with each site tailoring its product offering to the specific needs of the growers in its service area. Our product offering, coupled with the advice of our sales professionals, provides our customers with a one-stop shop for all their agricultural inputs needs.
Chemicals. Sales of chemicals to both crop and non-crop customers represent a significant portion of our business, accounting for approximately 63% of our net sales in fiscal 2005. We distribute a full range of chemicals through our distribution locations, including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, adjuvants and surfactants. We also provide a variety of services related to the application of chemicals.
Seed. We have placed an emphasis on new seed technology and provide a complete range of seed and seed treatments to growers through our distribution centers. Increasingly, our seed products are prepared by leading seed companies, and sold both under their brand names and our private labels (for example, Dyna-Gro®). As a result of advances in seed technology, we have started to bundle chemicals with complementary seed products.
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Fertilizer. We distribute a full range of fertilizer products through our distribution centers, including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, as well as various micronutrients such as iron, boron and calcium. We also provide fertilizer application services, and customized fertilizer blending for the specific needs of individual growers.
Services. In addition to selling traditional crop production inputs, our distribution centers provide agronomic services to growers. These services range from traditional custom blending and application of crop nutrients to meet the needs of individual growers, to more sophisticated and technologically advanced services such as soil sampling, pest level monitoring and yield monitoring using global position systems satellite grids and satellite-linked variable rate spreaders and applicators to analyze the data.
Non-Crop. We also distribute agricultural chemicals, seed and fertilizers to various non-agricultural markets, such as turf and ornamental (golf courses, resorts, nurseries and greenhouses), pest control operators, forestry, and vegetation management. This non-crop business has a distinctly different customer base from the agricultural markets, and requires different service levels and locations closer to suburban or leisure centers. We are the only distributor in our markets with a presence in the three major non-crop market product areas of turf and ornamental, pest control operators and vegetation management. Sales to non-crop customers are included in our discussion of chemicals, seed and fertilizer.
Products Division
The Products Division consists of our marketing, registrations and regulatory affairs, sourcing, formulation and packaging operations for our proprietary and private label products. Our marketing group works closely with the Distribution Division to drive its portfolio management, sales activities, advertising and technical service. We operate three formulation facilities in U.S. that produce our proprietary branded products as well as private label products from third parties. Typically, these products are developed independently by us or in cooperation with our leading suppliers. We distribute the products sourced by our Products Division through our Distribution Division. Additionally, we maintain over 250 federal sub-registrations from the basic manufacturers. In order to support these proprietary private label products and sub-registrations we maintain approximately 8,300 state registrations.
As of February 2005, we had over 220 proprietary branded products. We have a broad product offering of proprietary brands in each of our product categories. Some of our key proprietary branded products in each category are listed in the table below.
| Categories |
Key Proprietary Branded Products | |
| Chemicals / Adjuvants |
Saber®, Savage®, Shotgun®, Salvo®, Strategy®, Amplify®, LI 700®, Choice®, Weather Guard®, Liberate®, Activator 90® | |
| Seed and Seed Treatments |
Dyna-Gro®, DynaStart®, So-Fast® | |
| Fertilizers |
ACA®, Awaken®, Nortrace® | |
| Non-Crop |
Signature®, Bisect® | |
Our proprietary and private label products allow us to enhance our product offering and provide formulations designed to meet the needs of growers in each region that we serve. As a result, we are able to obtain a higher contribution margin from our proprietary and private label products than from commodity brands we distribute from other suppliers. We believe our proprietary and private label products represent a significant value for our customers and help increase the overall value of our suppliers products. Many of our proprietary and private label products are patented in the U.S. or Canada.
The Products Division also provides formulating, blending and packaging services for third parties, primarily our major suppliers, that allow us to leverage our fixed costs and increase plant efficiencies. In addition, by working in such an integrated manner with our suppliers, we remain informed of the newest product technology and market offerings.
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We use a wide array of technological and proprietary processes to enhance our crop protection, seed and fertilizer inputs and product development programs. We believe these technologies and proprietary processes enable us to create novel product concepts and reduce time to market. In certain circumstances, we file for patents on technology that we believe is patentable. As of February 27, 2005, we held approximately 230 trademarks (pending or registered) in the United States either directly or through one of our subsidiaries, and United Agri Products Canada Inc., one of our subsidiaries, held approximately 60 Canadian trademarks (pending or registered) either directly or through one of its subsidiaries. These trademarks pertain to products formulated and distributed by us, including chemicals, plant nutrition products, seed and fertilizers. In addition, we possess contractual rights to certain trademarks held by third parties through arrangements with certain of our suppliers and distributors. Intellectual property rights help protect our products and technologies from use by competitors and others. In addition to trademarks, intellectual property rights of importance to us include trade secrets, confidential statements of formulation and other proprietary manufacturing information. We use nondisclosure agreements to protect our proprietary and confidential information. Such nondisclosure agreements specifically address the confidential information disclosed and concern the protection of our intellectual property. The objectives of the trade secret policy are to prevent disclosure of sensitive information and to protect our legal interests if our trade secrets are appropriated. We will continue to aggressively prosecute and enforce all of our intellectual property rights.
SEASONALITY
Our and our customers businesses are seasonal, based upon the planting, growing and harvesting cycles. During fiscal 2002 through 2005, at least 75% of our net sales occurred during the first and second fiscal quarters of each year because of the condensed nature of the planting season. As a result of the seasonality of sales, we experience significant fluctuations in our revenues, income and net working capital levels. However, our integrated network of formulation and blending, distribution and warehousing facilities and technical expertise allows us to efficiently process, distribute and store product close to our end-users and to supply our customers on a timely basis during the compressed planting and growing season. See Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsRisk FactorsOur and our customers businesses are subject to seasonality and this may affect our revenues, carrying costs and collection of receivables.
Due to the seasonal nature of our business, the amount of borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility varies significantly throughout the fiscal year. During fiscal 2005, outstanding borrowings (net of cash on hand) reached a period end peak of $275.2 million on October 24, 2004, while cash on hand reached a period end peak of $91.3 million (with no borrowings under the revolving credit facility) on March 21, 2004. Our average period end borrowings (net of cash on hand) for the fifty-three weeks ended February 27, 2005 were approximately $93.7 million.
PRODUCTS
The following table shows the percentage of our net sales by product category for the fiscal years 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively:
| Category |
Year ended February 27, 2005 |
Year ended February 22, 2004 |
Year ended February 23, 2003 |
||||||
| (as a percentage of net sales) | |||||||||
| Chemicals |
63.1 | % | 64.4 | % | 65.7 | % | |||
| Fertilizers |
22.6 | % | 21.5 | % | 20.2 | % | |||
| Seeds |
12.1 | % | 10.6 | % | 10.7 | % | |||
| Other |
2.2 | % | 3.5 | % | 3.4 | % | |||
| Total |
100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | |||
In fiscal 2005, our top ten brands accounted for approximately 14% of net sales.
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COMPETITION
The market for the distribution of chemicals, seeds, fertilizers and agronomic services is highly competitive. In each of our local markets, we typically compete with two or three other distributors. These distributors include agricultural cooperatives, multinational corporation-owned distribution outlets and other independent distribution companies. Agricultural cooperatives are operated for the benefit of their member growers and include companies such as Agriliance, LLC and Growmark, Inc. Multinational corporation-owned distribution outlets include companies such as Helena Chemical Company (a subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation), and other independent distributors such as Royster-Clark, Inc. We generally compete with other distributors on the basis of breadth of product offering, ability to provide one-stop shopping with customized local products and services, our sales forces knowledge of and relationships with our customers, and price.
SALES ON CREDIT, EXTENSIONS OF CREDIT AND ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
A significant portion of our sales to growers and independent retailers are made through the use of our credit programs. Typically, we sell products on cash or credit terms, with credit terms ranging from 30 days to crop terms, which typically require payments in December. Many accounts accrue service charges. The interest rate on such charges varies by state, subject to maximum allowable interest under the particular states laws. As of February 27, 2005, our aggregate accounts receivable, most of which constituted extensions of credit to trade customers, totaled $248.9 million.
We have a dedicated and focused credit department, responsible for all our credit and risk management, and our centralized credit and procurement functions are responsible for coordinating various working capital initiatives. Our credit department is also responsible for establishing credit terms and credit limits, compiling data and generating reports to monitor collections and reserves for bad debt, monitoring progress of credit related initiatives, assuring data integrity and distributing relevant reports to the field credit managers. Our credit policies and procedures include detailed computerized analysis of a particular customers credit prior to the sale, routine monitoring of customer credit limits, and systematic inactivation of non-conforming accounts.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Our finance, credit and information technology departments are responsible for all our financial reporting, information technology and systems, treasury and cash management, financial analysis and budgeting, state tax filings, and credit and risk management.
In addition, our finance and credit departments perform financial modeling and analysis, due diligence and contract negotiations for acquisitions. Our credit department also establishes credit terms and credit limits, compiles data and generates reports to monitor collections, reserves for bad debt, and progress of credit related initiatives, and to assure data integrity and distribute relevant reports to the field credit managers. Our finance department has three locations, one in Greeley, Colorado, one in Dorchester, Ontario, and one in Tampa, Florida.
We have point-of-sale computer systems at our locations, which provide daily reports, including sales and profitability data, credit information and working capital data. We use these systems to provide data for inventory control, credit controls, budgeting, forecasting and working capital management requirements.
RAW MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES
We purchase our crop protection products and seed primarily from the worlds leading agrochemical companies. We have contracts with BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta and other prominent suppliers in the industry. We purchase crop protection products at the chemical
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companies distributor price and receive a cash rebate based on volume and type of product. The cash rebate is typically paid near the end of the calendar year, but may be advanced with the balance paid at year-end. Such rebate programs may be published programs, in which case rebates are calculated similarly among all buyers, or unpublished programs, in which case rebates are structured solely according to our business.
Historically we have purchased our fertilizer primarily from ConAgra International Fertilizer Company, an affiliate of ConAgra Foods, and one of the largest U.S. marketers of fertilizer. We intend to continue to purchase a significant portion of our fertilizer needs from ConAgra as long as they are price competitive.
EMPLOYEES AND LABOR RELATIONS
As of February 27, 2005, we employed approximately 3,100 non-unionized and salaried employees, approximately 80 unionized employees and approximately 260 temporary employees to meet our seasonal needs. We believe we have good relations with our employees. All our unionized employees work at the Platte Chemical Company facility in Greenville, Mississippi and are all subject to a collective bargaining agreement. This collective bargaining agreement is scheduled to expire in August 2007, but is subject to automatic renewals for additional year-long periods unless otherwise terminated. We have not had any work stoppages in the past five years.
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS
Our facilities and operations must comply with a wide variety of federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and ordinances, including those related to air emissions, water discharges and chemical and hazardous waste management and disposal. Our operations are regulated at the federal level under numerous laws, including the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, and at the state level under analogous state laws and regulations. Our operations also are governed by laws relating to workplace safety and worker health and safety, primarily the rules of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the United States Department of Transportation. Non-compliance with these environmental, health and safety laws can result in significant fines or penalties or restrictions on our ability to sell or transport products. We manage these regulatory risks by employing a staff of highly trained professionals, by performing periodic compliance audits, and by participating in industry stewardship initiatives. We believe that our operations are in compliance in all material respects with current requirements under environmental, transportation, and employee safety laws, except for matters that are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations or liquidity.
Environmental laws may hold current owners or operators of land or businesses liable for their own and for previous owners or operators releases of hazardous or toxic substances, materials or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, including petroleum and petroleum products. Because of our operations, the history of industrial or commercial uses at some of our facilities, the operations of predecessor owners or operators of some of the businesses, and the use, production and release of hazardous substances at these sites, we are affected by the liability provisions of environmental laws. Many of our facilities have experienced some level of regulatory scrutiny in the past and are or may be subject to further regulatory inspections, future requests for investigation or liability for hazardous substance management practices.
From time to time, we incur expenses in connection with remediation of hazardous substances, including fertilizers and pesticides in soils and/or groundwater at our current and former facilities. While a portion of this work is conducted on a voluntary basis under state law, most of it is conducted as part of a state directed enforcement action, some of which provides for reimbursement of expenses by state agricultural funds. In
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addition, we are engaged in corrective action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at our facilities in Billings, Montana and Garden City, Kansas, and our former facility in Nichols, Iowa. We have also removed or closed underground storage tanks from some of our facilities and, in some instances, are responding to historic releases at these locations. In total, both voluntary and government ordered cleanups of releases of hazardous substances are planned or being performed at approximately 17 sites. In some cases, third parties (including government reimbursement funds and insurers) may contribute to the costs of cleanup at these sites. Without consideration of third-party contributions, the cost of these on-going and potential response actions is not expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, as amended (CERCLA), provides for responses to, and, in some instances, joint and several liability for releases of, hazardous substances into the environment. At the present time, there are three off-site disposal facilities at which we have been identified as a potentially responsible party under CERCLA: Malone in Texas City, TX; Red Panther in Clarksdale, MS; and Aberdeen Pesticide Dump in Aberdeen, N.C. We believe that the cost of participating in these on-going and potential response actions will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity.
ConAgra has agreed to provide us with a partial reimbursement of costs that we may incur in the future relating to any cleanup requirements arising out of pre-closing environmental conditions at our Greenville, Mississippi facility. On October 14, 2002, December 23, 2002, and December 31, 2002, three separate lawsuits were filed in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi against our subsidiary, Platte Chemical Company (Platte), and certain former employees of Platte, relating to alleged releases from Plattes Greenville, Mississippi facility. The plaintiffs in such suits are seeking compensation for alleged personal injury and property damage. In connection with the Acquisition, ConAgra agreed to partially reimburse us, subject to a cap, for fees and expenses we incur in connection with such lawsuits. Subsequent to November 23, 2003, another lawsuit not covered by the ConAgra cost sharing agreement was filed in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi against us and Apollo Management, L.P. (Apollo), which lawsuit relates to the same alleged releases from the Greenville, Mississippi facility. In January 2004, the plaintiffs requested permission from the court to amend their first three complaints to include United Agri Products, Inc., UAP Holding Corp., Apollo and various other Apollo entities as defendants. While discovery in the Greenville litigations is not yet complete, based on information available to us at this time we do not believe that such litigations, if adversely determined, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
REGULATORY LICENSES AND APPROVALS
As a seller and distributor of crop production inputs, we are subject to registration requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and related state statutes, which require us to provide information to regulatory authorities regarding the benefits and risks of the products we sell and distribute, and to periodically update that information. Risk information supplied to governmental authorities by us or others could result in the cancellation of products or in limitations on their use. In addition, these laws regulate information contained in product labels and in promotional materials, require that products are manufactured in adherence to manufacturing specifications, and impose reporting and recordkeeping requirements relating to production and sale of certain pesticides. Non-compliance with these environmental, health and safety laws can result in significant fines or penalties or restrictions on our ability to sell our products. Based on our experience to date, these requirements are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
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| Item 2. | Properties. |
Our properties are located in the major crop-producing regions of the United States and Canada. We are headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and we operate three formulation facilities located throughout the United States.
| Location |
Owned/Leased |
Function |
Building(s) Square Footage |
Formulating/Production Square Footage | ||||
| Greeley, Colorado |
Leased | Headquarters | 47,753 | N/A | ||||
| Greeley, Colorado |
Owned | Formulating | 67,100 | 11,500 | ||||
| Greenville, Mississippi |
Owned | Formulating | 291,000 | 57,000 | ||||
| Billings, Montana |
Owned | Formulating | 61,071 | 20,320 |
We sold a substantial portion of the assets at a facility located in Fremont, Nebraska in October 2004. Except for a limited amount of toll manufacturing, we have ceased all operations at the Fremont facility. In addition, we closed a formulation facility located in Caldwell, Idaho in October 2004, and we expect eventually to sell that facility to a third party.
In addition, as of February 27, 2005, we owned or leased approximately 330 properties that are used to maintain inventory and distribute and sell our products to our customers. We determine the number of distribution and storage facilities as those managed by a single location manager. Because there may be more than one property that we own or lease managed by a location manager, our approximately 330 distribution and storage facilities are less than the total number of leased and owned properties. We also utilize other miscellaneous facilities in our distribution business. We operate these properties through our four primary geographic regions, which are further divided into nine sub-regions, as noted below:
| Region |
Sub-region |
States/ Provinces Served |
Owned |
Leased | ||||
| Coastal | Southeast | AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, VA | 6 | 34 | ||||
| Northeast | CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, WV | 14 | 37 | |||||
| West | AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT, WA | 9 | 25 | |||||
| Northern | Midwest | IA, MN | 14 | 22 | ||||
| Northern Plains | MT, ND, SD | 11 | 10 | |||||
| Richter | MO, IL, IN, WI | 16 | 15 | |||||
| Southern | Delta | LA, MS | 11 | 26 | ||||
| Midsouth | AR, KY, TN | 7 | 25 | |||||
| Southern Plains | CO, KS, NE, NM, OK, TX, WY | 13 | 27 | |||||
| Canada | AB, BC, MN, NB, NS, ON, PEI, QU, SK | 2 | 9 | |||||
| Administrative | CO | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Total |
103 | 231 | ||||||
Mortgages on 34 of our owned properties secure our obligations under the revolving credit facility.
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| Item 3. | Legal Proceedings. |
In addition to the matters discussed above under Item 1. BusinessEnvironmental Matters, we are involved in periodic litigation in the ordinary course of our business, including lawsuits brought by employees and former employees alleging discriminatory practices, intellectual property infringement claims, product liability claims, property damage claims, personal injury claims, contract claims and workers compensation claims. We do not believe that there are any pending or threatened legal proceedings, including ordinary litigation incidental to the conduct of our business and the ownership of our properties, that, if adversely determined, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, we cannot assure you that future litigation will not adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
| Item 4. | Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. |
None.
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| Item 5. | Market for Registrants Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. |
Market Information. We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of UAP Holding Corp., the common stock of which is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol UAPH. There is no trading market for our common stock. The common stock of UAP Holding Corp. began trading on the NASDAQ National Market on November 22, 2004. The high and low for UAP Holding Corp.s common stock for the third quarter ended November 28, 2004, was $16.84 per share and $16.06 per share, respectively; the high and low for UAP Holding Corp.s common stock for the fourth quarter ended February 27, 2005, was $17.40 per share and $13.75 per share, respectively. Prior to the third and fourth quarters of our 2005 fiscal year, UAP Holding Corp. was privately held and there was no trading in its equity.
Dividends. On October 4, 2004, we paid a special dividend to UAP Holding Corp. in the aggregate amount of $60.0 million, which UAP Holding Corp. in turn distributed to the holders of its common and preferred stock. This dividend was financed with borrowings under our revolving credit facility.
On April 29, 2005, the board of UAP Holding Corp. declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock in the amount of $0.125 per share of common stock. The record date for the dividend payment was May 13, 2005, and the payment date will be June 1, 2005. Also on April 29, 2005, our board declared a dividend on our common stock in an amount sufficient to provide UAP Holding Corp. the finances to pay the dividend on June 1, 2005. As described more fully below, the terms of our indebtedness may restrict us from paying cash dividends on our common stock under some circumstances. As of February 27, 2005, approximately $29.7 million of permitted distributions were available to pay dividends under our restricted payment covenant in our indenture governing the 8 1/4% Senior Notes.
Restrictions on Payments of Dividends. The payment of any cash dividend on our common stock is considered a restricted payment under our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our 8 1/4% Senior Notes due 2011 (the 8 1/4% Senior Notes), and we are restricted from paying any cash dividend on our common stock unless we satisfy certain conditions. The terms of the indenture governing the 8 1/4% Senior Notes restrict our ability to declare and pay dividends as follows:
| | we may not pay dividends if an event of default under the indenture has occurred and is continuing; |