BARCELONA, SPAIN — Elian Barcelona S.L. has entered into an agreement to acquire the Soya Crush Plant, Cargill S.L.U.’s soybean crush facility at Moll Álvarez de la Campa in Barcelona. 

Elian Barcelona is a subsidiary of Viserion Oilseed Processing, LLC, a newly formed subsidiary of Viserion International. Viserion International is backed by a fund managed by Pinnacle Asset Management, L.P., a New York, New York, US-based alternative asset management firm focused on global commodities markets. 

Financial terms of the acquisition announced Oct. 11 were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approval from the Barcelona Port Authority.

The soybean crushing facility serves the Catalan, Spanish and European feed and food ingredient sectors. Elian Barcelona intends to expand the plant’s capabilities to produce a wider range of sustainable, innovative food and specialty feed ingredients, through concentration and textured protein, key to supporting the delivery of farm-to-food products across European and Mediterranean markets. 

“We are proud to acquire and advance this important Catalan processing plant as we build a more resilient food system across Europe,” said Andres Martin, founder and general manager of Elian Barcelona. “Sustainability is our core foundational value, and we believe that this strategic asset — coupled with Viserion’s scale, resources and expertise — will allow us to better align our services with consumers and food system trends, enhance European food security and resist supply chain disruptions.

“We are grateful to Catalonia’s public institutions, including Generalitat de Catalunya and Acció, for their support, and we look forward to innovating healthier and more reliable ingredient solutions through this plant for a more sustainable world.”

Aaron Wiegand, chief executive officer of Viserion International, said the acquisition of the strategically located plant, integral to Catalonia’s food supply, would deepen the company’s long-term commitment to the European market.

“We look forward to leveraging our strong US infrastructure and dedicated, experienced team to expand the Viserion platform both organically and opportunistically, and to further grow our international grain and food product handling and trading business,” Wiegand said.

Jason Kellman, managing partner and chief investment officer of Pinnacle, said, “We believe that the addition of this crushing facility is a compelling opportunity to expand the Viserion platform to accelerate its continued investment in the critical European feed and food product supply chain. Pinnacle welcomes the Elian Barcelona group and looks forward to continuing to support the Viserion team by sharing our deep sector expertise and years of experience managing physical commodities and merchanting businesses.”