USA – Viterra Limited, the agricultural trading division of Glencore, has announced plans to acquire the grain and ingredients business of Gavilon Agriculture Investment, for US2$1.1 billion.
Nebraska-based Gavilon stores and distributes grains, oilseeds, feed, and food ingredients to customers worldwide.
The company has an asset network that spans the US, as well as international operations in Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia.
Its acquisition will expand supports Viterra’s long-term strategy of significantly increasing its presence in the United States, a major grain-producing and exporting region, according to David Mattiske, CEO of Viterra.
The Viterra CEO further noted that the addition of Gavilon’s origination business will enable his company to provide more value and flexibility to our customers.
“We will be able to rapidly enhance our sustainable supply chains, provide higher levels of quality control and reliability, while creating exciting opportunities for our customers and employees,” added Mattiske.
Funding for Gavilon’s acquisition
Funding for the agreed purchase price and a portion of the assumed working capital has been secured through the signing of a committed acquisition financing facility, revealed Peter Mouthan CFO of Viterra.
He further noted that the remainder of the working capital will be financed by using proceeds from other committed financing facilities and cash on hand, including existing available undrawn committed credit lines amounting to approximately US $3.6 billio.
Viterra, which is present in 37 countries, is a top-five global trader in sourcing oilseeds, such as soy, rapeseed and sunflower, and grains, including wheat, corn and barley, which are complemented by sugar, pulses and cotton.
It is owned 49.99% by mining and commodity company Glencore, with another 40% of the company held by Canada Pension Plan Investments and 9.99% held by British Columbia Investment Management Corp.
Harvest intake passes 5.5Mt
Earlier, Viterra announced that it had received 5.57 million tonnes (Mt) of grain in the harvest to January 2, according to its first harvest report after the Christmas-New Year break.
Between December 20 2021 and January 2, 2022, growers delivered 684,636t of grain into the Viterra network in South Australia, and its two sites in western Victoria.
The majority of deliveries were wheat, followed by barley, fava beans, and canola, according to a report from the commodity trading company.
As deliveries start to slow now that many growers have finished harvest, Viterra said it was continuing to prepare grain in storage for domestic buyers, and for exports to meet strong demand.
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