Activist Plantro Pushes AGI for Full Sale Amid Restructuring Woes

ST. HELIER, Jersey – March 26, 2026 – Activist investor Plantro Ltd. has publicly called on the board of Ag Growth International Inc. (AGI) to immediately initiate a formal sale process for the entire company, escalating pressure on the grain infrastructure giant as it grapples with a difficult turnaround.

The demand, issued in a press release today, follows AGI’s recent disclosure of a challenging fourth-quarter 2025 performance and the announcement of a significant corporate restructuring plan. Plantro, which has a history of successful activist campaigns against Canadian companies, argued that a sale is a “preferable and more certain path to maximizing shareholder value” than the multi-year turnaround AGI’s management has proposed.

“The magnitude of the operational transformation and balance sheet repair required is unlikely to be completed within a timeframe acceptable to public shareholders,” Plantro stated in its release. The investor contends that such deep, structural changes are better executed under private ownership, free from the “constraints of quarterly earnings expectations and ongoing public market scrutiny.”

A Turnaround Plan in Question

Plantro’s public challenge comes just two days after AGI (TSX: AFN) announced a comprehensive restructuring plan designed to stabilize the business. The plan was a direct response to deteriorating financial metrics and included a major shake-up of its executive leadership, reducing the team from 17 to 8 members. AGI also suspended its quarterly dividend, terminated a costly Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system deployment to save an estimated $20 million, and announced it would halt new large-scale projects involving general contracting, particularly in Brazil.

AGI’s management framed these moves as decisive actions to streamline the business and improve cash flow, projecting annualized cost savings of at least $20 million. However, Plantro dismissed these efforts as insufficient, characterizing them as “cost-cutting efforts and piecemeal asset sales to raise cash.”

The activist investor believes these measures “may potentially impair the future growth prospects of the business and are unlikely to be materially accretive to shareholders.” Furthermore, Plantro took aim at AGI’s ongoing search for a permanent CEO, suggesting a new leader would require several quarters to get up to speed, subjecting shareholders to further prolonged uncertainty.

By the Numbers: AGI's Financial Strain

The urgency behind both AGI’s restructuring and Plantro’s activism is rooted in the company’s bleak fourth-quarter 2025 financial results. The report revealed a company under significant strain, validating many of the concerns raised by the activist shareholder.

While revenue for the quarter saw a modest 4% year-over-year increase to $396 million, profitability plummeted. Adjusted EBITDA fell a staggering 38% to $48 million compared to the same period in 2024. Consequently, the company's adjusted EBITDA margin was compressed by over 800 basis points, landing at just 12.2%.

Perhaps most alarmingly for investors, AGI’s debt load swelled. Its net debt leverage ratio climbed to 4.7x, a sharp increase from 3.9x in the previous quarter and 3.1x at the end of 2024. This financial deterioration was coupled with a weakening outlook, as the company’s order book shrank by 26% year-over-year to $543 million. The quarter culminated in a pre-tax loss of $44.7 million, a stark contrast to the more optimistic performance seen just one quarter prior, which had triggered a temporary surge in the company's stock price.

The Activist's Playbook

Plantro Ltd. is not a new player in the world of shareholder activism. The Jersey-based private investment firm, led by Matthew Proud, the former CEO of Dye & Durham Ltd., has a well-established track record of targeting publicly traded Canadian companies it deems undervalued. Its campaigns often follow a distinct pattern: acquiring a significant stake, publicly criticizing management and strategy, and aggressively pushing for board changes and a strategic review, frequently culminating in a call for a full company sale.

This playbook has been deployed at companies such as Information Services Corporation (ISC) and Calian Group Ltd., where Plantro acquired stakes exceeding 5% and successfully agitated for strategic changes. In its current campaign against AGI, Plantro has indicated it is ready to engage constructively but has also come prepared for a fight, stating it has “identified multiple highly qualified individuals prepared to join the recently refreshed directors on the Board” to help oversee a sale process.

An Undervalued Asset or a Company in Crisis?

Despite its sharp critique of AGI’s current state, Plantro insists the company remains a fundamentally valuable asset. In its release, the investor highlighted AGI’s position as a “global market leader in grain infrastructure products and systems,” a business underpinned by powerful “macro tailwinds of increased food consumption and population growth.”

This dual narrative—a company in operational crisis yet possessing a high-quality core business—is central to the activist’s pitch for a sale. The argument is that a strategic or financial buyer could unlock value that current management cannot. Potential strategic acquirers could include industry competitors, such as Buhler Industries or Brock Grain Systems, looking to consolidate market share or expand their geographic footprint.

Alternatively, the company could be an attractive target for a private equity firm. Financial buyers specializing in the agricultural sector are increasingly active and could see AGI as a prime turnaround opportunity. Taking the company private would align with Plantro’s core argument, allowing a new owner to undertake the necessary deep restructuring and operational improvements away from the pressures of the public market. The board of Ag Growth International has yet to issue a formal response to Plantro's public demand, leaving shareholders and the market to await the next move in this unfolding corporate drama.