J.D. Heiskell & Co. (JDH) announced this week that it has completed the purchase of substantially all of the assets of Commodity Specialists Company Holdings Inc. (CSC) an agri-products trading and marketing company based in Minneapolis, Minn. CSC also has a principal office in Kansas City, Mo.

CSC will be renamed CSC Gold Inc., dba Commodity Specialists Co. JDH senior vice president and director for corporate risk Charles Tsatsos will oversee CSC Gold.

“Our complementary cultures, footprints and business models should offer many synergies, and I look forward to working with the teams at CSC and JDH to maximize opportunities as we move forward,” Tsatsos said. “Our business partners should notice no change in the service levels provided by either company.”

CSC president Phil Lindau said, “I am proud of the customer focus and entrepreneurial spirit that CSC employees bring to the market each and every day. We are excited about the opportunity to combine forces with JDH, which will allow us to continue and even expand our customer-centered strategies for many years to come.”  

Industry veteran Ross Brainard will continue to manage the CSC Gold traders, and Tom Wilkinson will remain in his lead role in the CSC Gold brewer’s grain segment.

JDH is a privately held, professionally managed commodity trading and livestock feed manufacturing enterprise conducting business across the breadth of the continental U.S., Mexico and the Pacific Rim.

CSC traces its roots back 70 years, when a small group was formed to increase the value of byproduct feed streams at food processing companies. The idea developed into the first domestic merchandising group focused primarily on feed byproducts, including soybean products, cottonseed products, corn byproducts and other oilseed products. CSC was also a pioneer in the wet feed business more than 40 years ago.