COFCO has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining minority stake in Nidera Capital to gain full ownership of the company.
The minority stake has been bought by COFCO International from Cygne to gain 100% ownership in Nidera.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year and is subject to regulatory approvals.
The acquisition is part of COFCO’s initiatives to grow and consolidate its international agri-businesses into an integrated global platform.
It will enable COFCO International to have full ownership of two leading global agri-businesses, following its recent acquisition of 100% full ownership in Noble Agri.
In April 2014, Cofco entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake of 51% in Noble agribusiness, a unit of Hong Kong-based supply chain manager Noble Group, for $1.5bn.
The combined entity formed after the integration of Nidera is expected to serve as COFCO’s flagship international agri-business platform.
COFCO president, COFCO International chairman, Nidera supervisory board chairman Patrick Yu said: “This acquisition represents an important accomplishment for COFCO International as we continue to realize our vision of building a world-class global agri-business.”
Nidera, a major international agribusiness and trading company, earned a turnover of $18.5bn in 2015.
Currently, Nidera has operations in 19 major export and import countries and distributes its products to more than 60 countries in the world.
Cygne chairman and Nidera supervisory board vice chairman Martin Mayer-Wolf said: “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.”
