Yara Brasil Fertilizantes SA has purchased a 14 percent stake in Rede Agro Fidelidade e Intermediacao SA, an online trading platform doing business as Orbia. The price of the investment was not disclosed. The deal was announced after receiving Brazil antitrust approval.
Yara’s goal is to reach 25 percent of total product sales in Brazil via digital platforms, such as e-commerce and marketplace, by 2025. “We are dedicated to contributing to the future of climate-positive and carbon-neutral food production, and we understand that in addition to offering the best nutrition solutions, this also involves access,” said Cleiton Vargas, Vice President of Farming Solutions for Yara Americas. “Making our portfolio available in multiple channels ensures that it reaches the field in the most appropriate way for each customer profile.”
Germany’s Bayer AG owns a majority stake in Orbia with 68.8 percent and Brazil’s Bravium 17.2 percent. Both companies equally diluted their shareholding in order to welcome Yara, which will get one seat on the Board of Directors.
“We need to expand partnerships and offer a range of products and services that make their interaction pleasant and agile, promoting the best shopping experience for the farmer,” said Luis Offa, Director of Marketing Latam of Bayer’s Agricultural Division. He said Yara adds a strong portfolio that will complement the solutions that the platform’s customers are looking for.
“For Bayer, Orbia is today one of the most important digital tools,” said Offa. “We understand that to be the protagonist of a digital transformation in agribusiness we need to be together with several players – it is what we call co-creation for innovation.”
“Our perception is that, with the entry of Yara, the digital transformation of the producer’s journey is increasingly consolidated in the idea of a one-stop-shop platform, making Orbia’s marketplace and coalition loyalty program absolutely fundamental solutions within the rural producers’ strategy,” said Ricardo Garcias, Co-Founder of Bravium.
Orbia said it has more than 240 distributors and national coverage in ag inputs. Crop commodities are also traded. It claims the largest loyalty program in Brazilian agribusiness, with approximately 190,000 registered users.
Supply partners include Bayer (agricultural pesticides), Yara (fertilizers), Boehringer-Ingelheim (animal health), and Bunge (grain origination). Orbia is expanding into Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, according to a Reuters report.