COFCO
COFCO’s port terminal in the Mykolayiv region of Ukraine.
Source: AGI
 
BEIJING, CHINA — COFCO Corporation’s subsidiary, COFCO International Ltd., announced on Aug. 23 that it will acquire the remaining minority stake in Nidera Capital B.V., which is currently held by Cygne B.V., bringing COFCO International’s ownership of Nidera to 100%. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2016.

 

This transaction is a demonstration of COFCO’s commitment to Nidera’s century-long business heritage and its confidence in Nidera’s future prospects, COFCO said.

“Our combination enlarges the playing field and opens up new opportunities that were previously closed to us as separate companies, but that we can now pursue together,” said Matt Jansen, chief executive officer (CEO) of COFCO International. “This significantly accelerates the progress we have made in building a global leader in the international agricultural and food products industries, while delivering sustainable growth and superior returns for our shareholders.”

Martin Mayer-Wolf, chairman of Cygne and vice-chairman of the supervisory board of Nidera, said, “The agreement is a testament to the hard work of the employees who have dedicated themselves to Nidera over the years. Cygne is proud of the company’s achievements, and confident that these will be further expanded under the leadership of COFCO. Based on the strength of our partnership with COFCO International, we have the greatest confidence in their ability to build upon the strong foundation at Nidera and look forward to Nidera’s continued success in the years to come.”

The Nidera acquisition is in conjunction with COFCO International’s recent acquisition of Noble Agri Ltd., now known as COFCO Agri Ltd. COFCO International will have full ownership of both companies. COFCO said it intends to pursue a full integration of COFCO International, COFCO Agri and Nidera in order to leverage the combined capabilities of COFCO Agri’s highly strategic asset base, and solid system of Nidera’s strong origination and trading networks, both further complemented by the unique advantages of Nidera’s seeds business.

The integration program, which is anticipated to commence upon closing, will be led by Jansen and will build upon the strong business turnaround and integration progress that has been made at COFCO Agri since it became a 100%-owned subsidiary of COFCO International in March 2016, the company said.