With the solid backing of their voting delegates, Eastern Breeders Inc. (EBI), of Kemptville, and Gencor, located here, will join to become a $30-million company that will serve the combined operations of 8,583 members.
At a delegate day vote held simultaneously at the head offices of EBI and Gencor on Feb. 8, both groups gave strong consent to merge into one company that will service all of Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador. To finalize the merger, a two-thirds majority approval of the 56 delegates from EBI and 71 from Gencor was required.
EBI president John deVries said, “Producers in Ontario, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and PEI have sent us a clear message. They want a strong AI organization that can adapt to our rapidly changing industry.
“East-Gen, a member of the The Semex Alliance, hopes to be an organization positioned well for the future. It hopes to build on the strengths of each company while focusing on our values of commitment to customers, to youth, and to being breeder-owned and governed.”
Gencor President Brian Anderson added, “I am pleased that our membership has endorsed the plan put forward by both boards of directors. Much care and effort has gone into laying a solid foundation for the new company to build on in the future. Everyone involved deserves our thanks.”
The new company will adopt the interim name East-Gen and will have its administrative head office in Guelph, while the Guelph and Kemptville sites for housing, production and distribution will be maintained.
Together, Gencor and EBI house close to 750 bulls for the Semex Alliance, including some of the most sought after sires in the world.
The agreement was made easier due to many programs, events, ads, fleet rates, benefits and insurance programs the two companies already has in common.
East-Gen will inseminate an estimated 270,000 females with close to 500,000 units of semen sold annually.
A transitional board of directors has been established comprised of six from each of Gencor and EBI.
Together the 12 directors will elect an executive and the begin the process to select a new general manager. EBI’s and Gencor’s boards will continue their current obligations until the amalgamation, which will come into effect July 1.
