Alliance Grain to buy Arbel Group in $93 mln deal

(In U.S. dollars unless noted)

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, June 17 (Reuters) - Alliance Grain Traders Income Fund AGT_u.V has agreed to buy Arbel Group in a $93 million cash and share deal that Alliance said would create a global leader in exports of pulse crops such as lentils and peas.

Alliance, a Regina, Saskatchewan-based exporter of pulse crops, said acquiring Arbel, a Turkish pulse exporter and processor, gives it access to new production and markets.

From Turkey, the new company will have access to north Africa, Europe and the Middle East, regions with high consumption of pulse crops. The combined company would account for 40 percent of the global lentil trade, Alliance said.

At midday, Alliance shares were down 1.7 percent at C$17.69 on the TSX Venture Exchange.

"We will continue down the growth path because that's how we're wired," Alliance Chief Executive Murad Al-Katib said in a conference call with analysts. "And we have an excellent opportunity (with Arbel) ahead."

The acquisition would add immediately to earnings, Alliance said.

The offer to buy all of Arbel's shares will be voted on by Arbel shareholders in late August.

Alliance's predecessor company, Saskcan, was founded in 2001. Its head office will remain in Regina, Al-Katib said. (Reporting by Rod Nickel; editing by Rob Wilson)