HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--COFCO Corporation (“COFCO”) announced today that a definitive agreement has been reached whereby COFCO International Ltd. (“COFCO International”) will acquire the remaining minority stake in Nidera Capital B.V. (“Nidera”) currently held by Cygne B.V. (“Cygne”), bringing COFCO International’s ownership in Nidera to 100%. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is anticipated to take place in the fourth quarter of this year.
This transaction marks another significant milestone in COFCO’s initiatives to grow and consolidate its international agri-businesses into a world-class, integrated global platform. It is also a strong demonstration of COFCO International’s commitment to Nidera’s century-long business heritage and their confidence in Nidera’s future prospects. Taken in conjunction with COFCO International’s recent successful acquisition of 100% full ownership in Noble Agri Ltd., now known as COFCO Agri Ltd. (“COFCO Agri”), COFCO International will have full ownership of two leading global agri-businesses. It is COFCO’s intention to pursue a full integration of 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 Matt Jansen, CEO of both COFCO International and COFCO Agri, 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 future combined entity will serve as COFCO’s flagship international agri-business platform.
Patrick Yu, the President of COFCO, Chairman of COFCO International and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nidera commented: “This acquisition represents an important accomplishment for COFCO International as we continue to realize our vision of building a world-class global agri-business. We are very excited about the strength and future of Nidera and are confident that this transaction will pave the way for a successful integration and enhance the globalization initiatives underway at COFCO. We would also like to thank our partners at Cygne for entrusting us to guide Nidera into a new era.”
“Cygne is proud of the company’s achievements, and confident that these will be further expanded under the leadership of COFCO”, said Martin Mayer-Wolf, Chairman of Cygne and vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nidera. “The agreement is also a testament to the hard work of the employees who have dedicated themselves to Nidera over the years. 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.”
Dierk Overheu, CEO of Nidera, commented: “We are excited to become an integral part of COFCO’s combined international agri-business platform. All of us at Nidera are delighted at what lies ahead and I look forward to contributing my knowledge and experience to assist COFCO in building a world-leading business.”
“In business, you have to change in order to improve. In this instance, we are going beyond incremental improvements—this is a transformative deal that will help us evolve and thrive over the long-term,” said Matt Jansen. “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. 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.”
About COFCO International Ltd.
COFCO International is the overseas investment and management platform for the agribusinesses of COFCO, with its upstream origination and trading operations linked to the downstream processing and distribution capabilities of COFCO and its affiliates in China to create a fully integrated value chain, consistent with COFCO’s strategy.
COFCO International is the parent company of both COFCO Agri and Nidera. COFCO International actively manages and oversees the operation and compliance of the two subsidiaries via its own management team.
COFCO International is a consortium comprising of COFCO, a leading supplier of diversified products in the Chinese agricultural and food products industry, and other prominent international investors.
About COFCO Agri Ltd.
COFCO Agri engages in agricultural trading and processing businesses, which it originates from surplus producing regions such as South America, South Africa, East Europe, North America and Australia, to supply regions with high demand such as China, Asia and the Middle East. COFCO Agri owns and operates logistics and processing assets in strategic locations within key global trade flows. COFCO Agri had sales of USD 16.9 billion last year, and delivered 47 million tonnes of products globally, with 45 asset locations and 10,000 employees in 29 countries.
COFCO Agri, a subsidiary of COFCO International, is the exclusive platform for COFCO’s international agribusiness.
About Nidera
Nidera is a major international agribusiness and trading company with annual turnover of USD 18.5 billion in 2015. Nidera was founded in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1920, with its early activities focusing on grain and foodstuffs merchandising in the regions from which it took its acronym: Netherlands, (East) Indies, Deutschland, England, Russia and Argentina. Currently, Nidera has domestic and internal operations in 19 major export and import countries and distributes its products to more than 60 countries in the world.
By consolidating its presence throughout the value chain, Nidera has created a platform that efficiently connects agricultural producers and food consumers.