A court-appointed receivership has finalized a purchase agreement with Wylie Bice of Killdeer, North Dakota, to acquire the assets of Agridime, now operating as American Grazed Beef. This sale comes after it was uncovered that Agridime’s former owners, Josh Link and Jed Wood, had conducted a Ponzi scheme, defrauding more than 2,100 investors in 15 states.
Link and Wood raised $191 million through investments related to cattle purchases, but the Securities and Exchange Commission found that at least $58 million of new investor funds were used to pay earlier investors, while more than $11 million went to undisclosed sales commissions.
As of late February, Agridime owned about 6,500 head of cattle, and the company’s meat inventory was valued between $15-20 million. Despite the SEC’s actions, wholesale meat sales remained strong, and retail operations were resumed on the American Grazed Beef website.
The assets included in the sale consist of the company’s remaining frozen meat supply, equipment, and nine parcels of land in Kansas and Illinois. The estimated sale price is $15.7 million, though it will be finalized at closing based on the changing meat inventory. Bice plans to continue operating American Grazed Beef and has agreed to share 20 percent of future profits with the receivership for five years to help compensate the defrauded investors.
Objections to the sale can be filed until October 2, 2024, with a hearing scheduled for October 7 to consider approval. If the sale is approved, it is expected to close shortly after.
Meanwhile, the receivership will begin notifying investors of the amounts owed to them starting October 1, with the process expected to take up to three weeks. Investors who haven’t received a notice by October 22 are advised to contact the receivership for further instructions.
“There will be instructions with the notice emailed to you on how to handle any response to the notice you receive. Thank you very much for your patience during the audit process and with the delay in preparing these notices.,” reads the update on Agridime’s website on Sept. 25.
