REGINA -- AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. (AGT.TO) has agreed to be taken private by investors including CEO Murad Al-Katib in a deal that values the company at $436 million.

The Regina-based company says it has elected to proceed with the $18-per-share transaction proposed last July upon the recommendation of a special committee of independent directors and a fairness opinion from TD Securities.

In early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, AGT shares were up nearly 12 per cent or $1.86 at $17.70.

The buyers include Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. -- which partnered with AGT and several First Nations communities to buy the restored rail line and port at Churchill, Man., this fall -- and Point North Capital Inc.

AGT is an international distributor of food and ingredients, as well as a processor of pulses and specialty crops including lentils, peas, chickpeas and canary seed.

The deal must be endorsed by a two-thirds majority vote by shareholders and a simple majority vote by shareholders that are not part of the buyer group. AGT has agreed to pay an $11.5-million break fee if the deal fails under certain circumstances.

"Following a fairly lengthy process to consider the interests of all stakeholders of AGT and the future of the company, the management group, together with the other members of the buyer group, are excited at the prospect of a new chapter of AGT," said Al-Katib in a news release.