Marubeni in talks to buy US grain and energy trader Gavilon for $5.2 bn: report
08 May 2012
Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp is in advanced talks to buy US grain and energy trader Gavilon, for about $5.2 billion including debt, Reuters today reported, citing a source close to the deal.
Marubeni Corp, Japan's fifth-largest trading firm will meet as early as this week to discuss the offer, and talk to its creditors to arrange funding for the deal, said the report.
Omaha, Nebraska-based Gavilon, formerly known as ConAgra Trade Group, has one of the world's largest fertilizer distribution networks, as well as the third-biggest US grain-merchandising operation.
It sources, distributes, and markets grains and oilseeds, oils and fats, dairy products, and feed ingredients; renewable fuels, petroleum products, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and fertilizers.
The company also provides risk and price management, and logistics services to control the flow of materials from production source to marketplace.
Japan's Mitsui & Co, Swiss commodities giant Glencore International and Singapore's Wilmar International are among companies that have shown interest in closely held Gavilon, Bloomberg had last week reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi, which plans to double its grain volumes to 20 million tons by 2015, will almost triple its grain trade to about 27 million metric tons a year with the acquisition of Gavilon.
The proposed acquisition, if completed, would be the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese trading house since Mitsubishi bought a 24.5 per cent stake in the southern Chilean properties of Anglo American for $5.39 billion in November 2011, according to Thomson Reuters data.
