well as Whole Foods and AmazonFresh. Its primary products include living butter lettuce – for which it is a leading provider with an approximate 80 percent share of the CEA market within the Western U.S. – as well as packaged salad and cress. Pete’s has been in operation for over 50 years, while focusing the last 25 years in leafy greens, and has long-standing relationships with the majority of its customers.
Consideration will be comprised of $92.5 million in cash, expected to be provided pursuant to Local Bounti’s existing lending facility with Cargill, and the remaining $30 million of consideration payable in shares of Local Bounti common stock. The Transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to certain closing conditions.
Montana Farm Operational Progress
The Company successfully added seven additional greenhouses to its Hamilton, MT farm at the end of September 2021, bringing its total producing greenhouses to twelve. During the fourth quarter, those greenhouses became operational and have since been fully planted. With the additional capacity in place, the farm is producing commercial produce in approximately half of the facility, with the balance focused on research and development, to include new products, technology and systems designs. The additional capacity is expected to drive improved gross margin rates in the future.
Importantly, the Company continues to exceed its expectations for crop cycle improvement for its commercial head lettuce, which as of December 31, 2021 was 17 turns annually compared to 9 turns achieved in 2020, representing an 88% improvement. Importantly, this performance already exceeds the Company’s long-term assumptions that were previously reported and performance within its trials are generating further gains.
Commercial Farm Expansion Update
The Company is assessing its pipeline of future farm locations to maximize Pete’s national distribution footprint. Key considerations include meeting known demand from key existing customers within the network, as well as optimizing freight routes to ensure that transportation is optimized to limit cost while enhancing customer service with consistent delivery schedules. Given these considerations and the transformational nature of the anticipated Pete’s acquisition, the Company paused its construction of the Pasco, WA farm to ensure that its design is fully optimized to drive best-in-class unit economics and that synergies with Pete’s existing growing systems are considered prior to continuing construction. The Company remains committed to the build-out of the Pasco, WA farm and has completed site preparations, as well as obtained the necessary local and state permits to resume construction of the facility once the Company completes its planning.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
The Company ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $96.7 million, and $183.7 million in total availability on its credit facilities. As previously disclosed, management intends to preserve its cash and utilize a combination of debt and equity to finance its acquisition of Pete’s. In conjunction with the anticipated Pete’s acquisition, the Company amended its credit agreement with Cargill to utilize the facility for use in the Transaction.
Financial Outlook
Management is providing select financial guidance, on a proforma basis including contribution of Pete’s assuming the closing of the Transaction in the second quarter of 2022. The Company estimates consolidated full year 2022 sales guidance of at least $20 million, including partial year contribution from anticipated Pete’s acquisition.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call with members of the Local Bounti and Pete’s executive management team. The conference call is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. To participate on the live call, listeners in North America may dial (877) 514-3623 and international listeners may dial (201) 689-8768.
In addition, the call will be broadcast live via webcast, hosted at the “Investors” section of the Company’s website at localbounti.com and will be archived online.
About Local Bounti
Local Bounti is a premier controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company redefining conversion efficiency and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards for indoor agriculture. Local Bounti operates an advanced indoor