By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

GRAMERCY – The recent purchase of Imperial Sugar by Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC will not affect operations at Imperial’s small-bag packaging facility in Gramercy, according to a release from the company.

The plant, which has roots in the community that date back more than 100 years, packages small bags of sugar sold by grocery stores and other retailers. The facility employs 95 people.

In a statement issued by Imperial, company officials said that Louis Dreyfus intends to continue operating all of Imperial’s existing facilities across the country, which includes factories in Texas, Georgia and California. Louis Dreyfus agreed to purchase Imperial for $77.5 million in cash. With debt and pension liabilities included, the deal is worth $203 million.

The St. James Council discussed the acquisition at Wednesday’s meeting in Convent. The council has invited representatives from Louis Dreyfus to a future meeting so that they can be welcomed to the community.

According to a release from Louis Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer Mikael Morn said Imperial is an “excellent fit” for his company.

“This transaction is an important step forward in our plan to grow and diversify our global sugar activities from sugar cane crushing and international sugar trading into sugar refining and distribution in major consumer markets,” Morn said in the release.

Imperial Sugar has a history in St. James Parish that dates back to the late 19th century, when it opened its Gramercy refinery, which employed hundreds of people and was a mainstay of the parish’s economy.

The refinery closed on Dec. 31, 2010. At the time, the refinery employed 283 people, most of them union members. Imperial continued running a portion of the facility that packaged small bags of sugar carried by grocers and other retailers, such as convenience stores and drug store chains.

The remaining portions of the refinery were replaced and adapted into a new $190 million plant owned by Cargill Inc., Imperial and Louisiana Sugar Growers and Refiners, a co-op of nine mills and more than 700 growers from throughout the state. Imperial agreed to the joint venture to get access to the co-op’s raw sugar.

The new refinery, known as Louisiana Sugar Refinery, employs around 115 people. Louisiana Sugar also took over packaging for anything weighing more than 50 pounds.

In December, Cargill and Sugar Growers and Refiners announced they had bought Imperial’s piece of the refinery. Cargill and the growers each own 50 percent of the sugar refinery.