Golden Opportunities Fund is announcing the completion of an equity investment in Drake Meat Processors. The investment is led by Golden with participation from Farm Credit Canada Capital and a group of strategic local investors.

Proceeds from the equity raise will be used to support the construction of a new 53,000-square-foot meat processing facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, capable of producing over 17.6 million pounds of product annually. The new facility's technology advancements will include a tempering room, an automated bacon line, an automated injection system and natural gas smokehouses.

Founded in 1949 as a co-operative meat locker in Drake, Saskatchewan, Drake is a fourth-generation, family-owned consumer-packaged meat company with a vast product suite including sausage, bacon, hams, jerky and deli meats. Under the leadership of the CEO Kelly Ediger, Drake has transformed from its beginnings as a small-town meat locker into a consumer brand. The company's products are offered in grocery chains across Western Canada including Costco, Federated Co-op stores, Loblaws, Walmart, Sobeys and Save-On-Foods.

This expansion is expected to create up to 200 new local jobs once fully operational.

With Golden's investment, Drake's leadership team will be able to focus on continued growth, and the Ediger family will remain a major shareholder of the company. "The construction of our new facility is a tremendous milestone in the growth story of Drake. We are passionate about our craft and sharing it with others, and we are excited to partner with FCC Capital and local capital partners like Golden who have a long-standing record of successfully growing companies." said Ediger. 

Grant J. Kook, president and CEO of Golden said, "We are thrilled to invest in yet another long-standing, Saskatchewan success story like Drake. Our investment will support Drake's growth initiatives, local job creation and capital investment here in the Saskatchewan economy at a time when supporting local is more important than ever."

Source: Golden Opportunities Fund