FREEPORT, ILLINOIS, US — Easy USA Holdings Inc. has acquired Furst-McNess Co., which among other things markets feed ingredients, commodities, wet brewers grain and specialty feeds throughout the United States and Canada.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Oskaloosa, Iowa, US-based Easy USA Holdings Inc. is a subsidiary of Seoul, Korea-based Easy Holdings Company, Ltd., a $2 billion publicly traded, international animal feed nutrition and feed mill organization with distribution in 65 countries.

Furst-McNess said it expects to realize new growth opportunities through another Easy Holdings subsidiary called Easy Bio Inc. (Easy Bio), which delivers feed additives and specialized feeds to more than 30 countries.

“We are a ‘hands off’ type of owner and are here to assist Furst-McNess in expanding its product offerings and distribution, both in North America and internationally,” said Stevenson Hwang, chief executive officer of Easy USA. “Furst-McNess is a highly respected brand built upon more than a century of solid business capabilities, unique competencies and active corporate values. We look forward to learning from it, working with so many talented people, and supporting the company for additional growth.”

Eddie Wells, chairman of Furst-McNess, added, “Easy USA brings to Furst-McNess significant international distribution channels, financial resources and a new range of product ingredients and products we can now offer in North America. Conversely, McNess provides Easy USA with a substantial presence in the US animal nutrition industry from which it can now expand. Perhaps best of all, both companies have strong values and workplace cultures that complement one another. When it comes to mergers, it’s a perfect match.”

Based in Seoul, Korea, Easy Holdings generates $2 billion in consolidated annual revenues from 50 subsidiaries, including five in biotechnology, five in feed solutions, five in farm solutions, five in food solutions, two investment companies and a subsidiary in the Philippines. Eight of its subsidiaries are publicly traded. It employs 4,000 people worldwide, including in South Korea, the Philippines, the UK, Canada and the United States. Two years ago, it made its first US investment when it acquired DFS Oskaloosa, a feed mill operation in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Freeport, Illinois, US-based Furst-McNess Co. is a 113-year-old business with a substantial presence and reputation in the American and Canadian livestock feed industry. The company employs about 300 people at 12 facilities in the Midwest and Southeast, and annually produces 250,000 tons of vitamin and mineral premixes, starters, commodity blends and other manufactured feeds. It markets an additional 1.6 million annual tons of feed ingredients, commodities, wet brewers grain and specialty feeds throughout the United States and Canada. The company also operates a research and development facility near Des Moines, Iowa, US, consisting of 5,200 pig spaces that can be separated into different pens and fed different feeds, allowing for control groups when evaluating and validating new products.