Viterra in Talks for Possible Merger With Bunge

Agricultural trader Viterra is reportedly conducting negotiations with U.S.-based Bunge over the possibility of a merger.

Viterra parent company Glencore has been open to the idea of a merger with Bunge for years, even approaching Bunge in 2017 regarding a “friendly takeover”, but was turned down.

Bunge owns and operates the world’s largest network of crushing facilities, processing soybeans, canola, and sunflower seeds into edible cooking oils and animal feeds. And as the war in Ukraine has resulted in vast disruptions to global commodity trading, it has presented opportunities for growth to the big ABCDs of the grain world, including Bunge.

Glencore acquired Viterra for about $4.5 billion in 2012, giving it control of assets in Canada and Australia. Four years later, it sold stakes totaling about half the business to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corp.- and over the years, has been working to break into the top echelon of global commodity traders.

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