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EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS
12 Months Ended
May 29, 2022
EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS  
EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS

4.    EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS

Our equity method investments were as follows:

May 29, 2022

May 30, 2021

    

Carrying

    

Ownership

    

Carrying

    

Ownership

(in millions, except ownership interest)

Value

Interest

Value

Interest

LWM (a)

$

211.2

50%

$

263.3

50%

Lamb Weston Alimentos Modernos S.A. ("LWAMSA") (b)

  

26.1

50%

28.8

50%

Lamb-Weston/RDO Frozen ("Lamb Weston RDO") (c)

  

19.4

50%

17.4

50%

Other

  

0.7

50%

0.7

50%

$

257.4

$

310.2

(a)LWM is a joint venture with Meijer Frozen Foods B.V., headquartered in the Netherlands that manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in Europe and the Middle East.

(b)LWAMSA is a joint venture with Selprey S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sociedad Comercial del Plata S.A., that is headquartered in Argentina. LWAMSA manufactures and sells frozen potato products principally in South America.

(c)Lamb Weston RDO is a joint venture with RDO Frozen Co., that operates a potato processing facility in the U.S.

Summarized combined financial information for our equity method investments were as follows:

For the Fiscal Years Ended May

(in millions)

    

2022

    

2021

2020

Net sales

$

1,333.8

 

$

1,169.5

$

1,137.7

Gross profit

 

203.8

 

 

196.5

 

145.8

Income from operations

 

106.9

 

 

97.5

 

59.8

Net income (loss) (a)

(21.4)

103.9

58.7

May 29,

    

May 30,

(in millions)

    

2022 (a)

    

2021

Current assets

$

557.3

 

$

516.1

Noncurrent assets

 

487.1

 

 

627.6

Current liabilities

374.9

 

 

366.3

Noncurrent liabilities

170.3

 

 

147.3

(a)LWM recorded a $125.4 million charge to write-off its net investment in its joint venture in Russia, which is included in the fiscal 2022 net loss and the current and noncurrent assets and liabilities. Our portion of the non-cash impairment charge was $62.7 million.

We made the following sales to and purchases from our equity method affiliates, primarily for finished products sold to or purchased from our joint ventures. We also provided services, such as sales and marketing services, to our joint ventures that are recorded as a reduction to “Selling, general and administrative expenses” in our Consolidated Statements of Earnings. We also received dividends. The following table summarizes the activity with all our equity method affiliates:

For the Fiscal Years Ended May

(in millions)

2022

2021

2020

Sales

$

14.3

$

15.3

$

27.8

Purchases

  

21.0

5.2

8.6

Services provided

15.6

19.3

17.6

Dividends received

  

19.2

18.8

29.0

As of May 29, 2022 and May 30, 2021, we had receivables included in “Receivables” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets from our joint ventures of $11.0 million (which includes a $5.0 million note to Lamb Weston RDO) and $6.3 million, respectively.

We have an agreement to share the costs of our global ERP system and related software and services with LWM. Under the terms of the agreement, LWM 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 LWM. As of May 29, 2022 and May 30, 2021, LWM’s portion of the ERP costs totaled $23.4 million and $16.8 million, respectively. We had $20.5 million and $13.2 million of receivables recorded in ‘Other assets” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets at May 29, 2022 and May 30, 2021, respectively. We expect the total receivable from LWM to increase as development and implementation of the next phase of our ERP continues in fiscal 2023.

On July 5, 2022, we acquired an additional forty percent interest in LWAMSA for approximately $42 million, increasing our total ownership of LWAMSA from fifty percent to ninety percent. Following this acquisition, we will consolidate LWAMSA’s results in our consolidated financial statements.