Bunge Global SA doesn’t anticipate issues from antitrust regulators reviewing its $8.2 billion takeover of Viterra Inc. that would require the US crop merchant to offload any businesses. The deal is currently under review in Canada (GM Sept. 29, p. 1).
The assets being acquired from the Glencore Plc-backed grain company are in “very different places” and, even when in the same country, have “different strengths” than those operated by Bunge, CEO Greg Heckman said in a Nov. 2 interview with Bloomberg.
“We believe we should have very little breakage anywhere,” Heckman said, adding that Bunge expects to be able to keep “about all of our assets.”
The combined entity would become the world’s second-largest agricultural trading company by revenue, dominating the soybean and wheat markets. Globally it will end up with more than 125 crushing and refining facilities, a processing capacity of more than 75 million mt/y, 55 port terminals, and more than 230 million mt of commodities marketed annually.
Heckman said global trading firms such as Bunge still face fierce competition from local and regional companies including cooperatives and sometimes even customers in the crop origination business.