The Globe and Mail has a story posted on its website that'll be in Tuesday's paper. It's about Seth Klarman's Baupost Group investing in Highland Companies -- Ontario's largest potato grower.
Highland is also proposing developing a mega-quarry on its land:
Baupost was part of a group funding Highland’s purchase of about $50-million worth of potato lands in Dufferin County in Southwestern Ontario, under which, at a relatively shallow depth of about six metres, lie an estimated one billion tonnes of limestone suitable for construction aggregate. The rock could be worth up to $25-billion, depending on its quality.
To be sure, there is a big element of dice-rolling. To hit pay dirt, the quarry needs to be licensed, which means overcoming the fear and loathing among many in the local area toward the proposed development. It’s a huge, hard-to-quantify risk.
Further down:
Mr. Klarman, who declined through a spokesperson to be interviewed, manages about $23-billion (U.S.) through his Boston-based Baupost.
But in a written statement to The Globe and Mail, Baupost said the investment “is consistent with our long-term, value-oriented strategy. We take our role as a responsible investor seriously, and made this investment because we were confident that Highland would pursue this project in a thoughtful way that respected the local application process, as well as important community and environmental concerns.”
Full story here.
i see gigantic lawsuits in the near future
Posted by: will | July 12, 2011 at 12:26 AM