INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES	9 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2021
INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES
INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES	6. INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES We hold a 50% ownership interest in Lamb-Weston/Meijer v.o.f. (“Lamb-Weston/Meijer”), a joint venture with Meijer Frozen Foods B.V., which is headquartered in the Netherlands and manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in Europe. We hold a 50% interest in Lamb-Weston/RDO Frozen (“Lamb Weston RDO”), a potato processing joint venture based in the United States. We also hold a 50% interest in Lamb Weston Alimentos Modernos S.A. (“LWAMSA”), a joint venture with Sociedad Commercial del Plata S.A., which is headquartered in Argentina. LWAMSA manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in South America. These investments are accounted for using equity method accounting. The carrying value of our equity method investments, which includes Lamb-Weston/Meijer, Lamb Weston RDO, and LWAMSA at February 28, 2021 and May 31, 2020, was $303.1 million and $250.2 million, respectively, and are included in “Equity method investments” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. For the thirteen weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, we had sales to our equity method investments of $5.5 million and $8.6 million, respectively, and payments to our equity method investments of $0.9 million and $1.9 million, respectively; and for the thirty-nine weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, we had sales to our equity method investments of $12.4 million and $25.1 million and payments to our equity method investments of $4.2 million and $7.9 million, respectively. Total dividends from our equity method investments were $5.8 million and $10.9 million for the thirteen weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, respectively; and $12.4 million and $28.9 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, respectively. We have an agreement to share the costs of our global enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system and related software and services with Lamb-Weston/Meijer. Under the terms of the agreement, Lamb-Weston/Meijer will pay us for the majority of its portion of the ERP costs in five equal annual payments, plus interest, beginning in the period the system is deployed at Lamb-Weston/Meijer. As of February 28, 2021, Lamb-Weston/Meijer’s portion of the ERP costs totaled $15.8 million. We had $12.6 million and $12.0 million of receivables recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of February 28, 2021 and May 31, 2020, respectively. Of the $12.6 million and $12.0 million of receivables, $0.2 million and $1.8 million were recorded in “Receivables, net” and $12.4 million and $10.2 million were recorded in “Other assets,” respectively. We expect the total receivable from Lamb-Weston/Meijer to increase as development and implementation of the ERP system progresses. In December 2020, Lamb-Weston/Meijer increased its interest in its Russian joint venture from 35.5% to 74.9%, and now consolidates that joint venture in its results.

INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES

9 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2021

6. INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES

We hold a 50% ownership interest in Lamb-Weston/Meijer v.o.f. (“Lamb-Weston/Meijer”), a joint venture with Meijer Frozen Foods B.V., which is headquartered in the Netherlands and manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in Europe. We hold a 50% interest in Lamb-Weston/RDO Frozen (“Lamb Weston RDO”), a potato processing joint venture based in the United States. We also hold a 50% interest in Lamb Weston Alimentos Modernos S.A. (“LWAMSA”), a joint venture with Sociedad Commercial del Plata S.A., which is headquartered in Argentina. LWAMSA manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in South America. These investments are accounted for using equity method accounting.

The carrying value of our equity method investments, which includes Lamb-Weston/Meijer, Lamb Weston RDO, and LWAMSA at February 28, 2021 and May 31, 2020, was $303.1 million and $250.2 million, respectively, and are included in “Equity method investments” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. For the thirteen weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, we had sales to our equity method investments of $5.5 million and $8.6 million, respectively, and payments to our equity method investments of $0.9 million and $1.9 million, respectively; and for the thirty-nine weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, we had sales to our equity method investments of $12.4 million and $25.1 million and payments to our equity method investments of $4.2 million and $7.9 million, respectively. Total dividends from our equity method investments were $5.8 million and $10.9 million for the thirteen weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, respectively; and $12.4 million and $28.9 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended February 28, 2021 and February 23, 2020, respectively.

We have an agreement to share the costs of our global enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system and related software and services with Lamb-Weston/Meijer. Under the terms of the agreement, Lamb-Weston/Meijer will pay us for the majority of its portion of the ERP costs in five equal annual payments, plus interest, beginning in the period the system is deployed at Lamb-Weston/Meijer. As of February 28, 2021, Lamb-Weston/Meijer’s portion of the ERP costs totaled $15.8 million. We had $12.6 million and $12.0 million of receivables recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of February 28, 2021 and May 31, 2020, respectively. Of the $12.6 million and $12.0 million of receivables, $0.2 million and $1.8 million were recorded in “Receivables, net” and $12.4 million and $10.2 million were recorded in “Other assets,” respectively. We expect the total receivable from Lamb-Weston/Meijer to increase as development and implementation of the ERP system progresses.

In December 2020, Lamb-Weston/Meijer increased its interest in its Russian joint venture from 35.5% to 74.9%, and now consolidates that joint venture in its results.