Cargill Inc. and Copersucar SA agreed to combine their global
sugar-trading activities, creating a new joint venture that will
originate and trade raw and white sugar.
The independent venture, which will be 50% owned by each
company, will bring together the global supply chains of Cargill,
an agricultural and industrial company, and Copersucar, a Brazilian
sugar and ethanol trader. The new venture will benefit from the
large-scale supply of Copersucar's partner mills in Brazil and the
companies' experience in logistics management and access to the
elevation terminals in Brazil.
The trading activities will be based out of Geneva, Switzerland,
and the joint venture will have offices in Hong Kong, São Paulo,
Miami, Delhi, Moscow, Jakarta, Shanghai, Bangkok and Dubai.
Additional representation offices will be around the world.
Ivo Sarjanovic, who currently leads Cargill's sugar business,
will be appointed chief executive once the new company is formed.
Soren Hoed Jensen, current sugar and ethanol sales executive
director of Copersucar, will become the joint venture's chief
operating officer, and Stefano Tonti, currently financial
controller of Cargill's global trading and sugar businesses, will
become the new joint venture's finance chief.
Luis Roberto Pogetti, chairman of Copersucar, will become the
first rotating chairman of the venture.
The formation of the new venture is expected in the second half
of 2014.
Both companies' ethanol businesses and fixed assets, such as
terminals and mills, are excluded from the transaction.
Cargill, founded in 1865, ranks among the world's largest
privately owned companies and is one of the most diverse, trading
grain, energy and other commodities, processing meat, and
transporting goods across a sprawling global logistics network. The
company also has a financial-services wing, sells steel and makes
pharmaceutical ingredients.
Last year, the company unveiled plans to combine its
flour-milling operations with ConAgra Foods Inc. and CHS Inc. into
a multibillion-dollar joint venture, marking the milling industry's
biggest merger in years. The combination was recently delayed due
in part to regulatory review.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@wsj.com
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