Singapore based global agri-business company Olam International has acquired 100% stake in coffee specialist Schluter for $7.5m.
A combination of internal accruals and existing debt facilities will be used by Olam to finance the acquisition.
Following the acquisition, the East African coffee company will become the specialty arm of Olam Coffee in Europe.
Schluter managing director Philip Schluter said: “As a combined business, I am confident we will be able to serve our customers and partners in many ways better than before.”
Schluter, which was established way back in 1858, deals in trading of East African specialty and premium Arabica coffees.
Based in Switzerland, the company has marketing offices in the UK and operates milling facilities in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Olam Coffee managing director and CEO Vivek Verma said that Schulter’s unit in Europe will complement Olam’s marketing efforts while strengthening its reach and relationships with its roaster clients.
Verma said:“Schluter is clearly a strong fit into our strategy for three key reasons – Our entry into the European specialty coffee market will complement our expanding speciality coffee presence in the US; Schluter will also deepen our origination expertise in East Africa; and their focus on building sustainable supply chains with smallholders is strongly aligned to our core purpose of Growing Responsibly and our pursuit of the Olam Livelihood Charter.”
In June, Olam International acquired Alabama, US based Brooks Peanut Company for $85m.
At the start of this year, the agri-business company invested $275m in the acquisition of Amber Foods, a wheat and pasta business in Nigeria.
