Officials from Monitor Sugar Beet Growers Inc. and Michigan Sugar Co. said today that local growers have purchased enough stock to ensure a deal to buy Monitor Sugar Co. from its parent company.

Final figures were still being tabulated this morning.

"We're delighted that growers stepped up during this one-week extension to raise the needed equity," said Mark S. Flegenheimer, president and chief executive officer at Saginaw-based Michigan Sugar. "We're going to make our quantity."

Monitor Sugar's growers are attempting to purchase Illovo Sugar Ltd. of Durban, South Africa, for an undisclosed price. The deal is set to close on Sept. 30.

As part of the deal, Monitor Sugar's growers will combine with Michigan Sugar's growers to form a single cooperative.

Michigan Sugar has operated as a cooperative since 2002, when the company's growers banded together to buy the company from Texas-based Imperial Sugar Co. for $63.5 million.

The combined company will operate under the name Michigan Sugar, but Monitor Sugar's Big Chief Sugar brand will continue, along with Michigan Sugar's Pioneer Sugar brand.

Organizers of the deal had hoped to sell 50,000 shares to growers to raise money to help pay for the transaction.

Each $250 share of stock is tied to an acre of beets that the buyer pledges to grow for the cooperative.

As of Sept. 1 - the original deadline for sale of stock - growers had purchased only 42,500 shares, leaving organizers 7,500 short. The deadline to purchase shares was extended to midnight on Thursday.

Raymond F. VanDriessche, executive director of Monitor Sugar Beet Growers, in a telephone call at 7:20 a.m. today, said the goal of 50,000 shares was surpassed sometime Thursday afternoon.

He said all shares had to be purchased by midnight, but that only meant orders had to be postmarked by that time. Therefore, he and Flegenheimer both expected additional acres to be enrolled today.

"It's a great feeling," said VanDriessche. "This is what we worked for the last five months. It all boils down to the commitment from the growers. The fact that we hit our goal shows the growers have that commitment."

VanDriessche said he believes it took an extra week to reach the goal because growers simply didn't have enough time, originally, to have all their questions about the sale answered.

All acreage is subject to acceptance by the Boards of Directors of Monitor Sugar Beet Growers and Michigan Sugar Co. at a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

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