U.S. grains merchant Bunge Ltd (BG.N) is putting the final touches on a deal to merge with Glencore Plc (GLEN.L)-backed peer Viterra and create an agricultural trading giant worth more than $30 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The deal, whose terms have not been previously reported, would come as Russia’s war in Ukraine has tested the security of supply in global food markets. Its potential impact would be examined closely by antitrust regulators.
Bunge, whose market value is about $14 billion and carries debt net of cash of about $2.7 billion, will pay for most of the deal with stock but will also use cash and has lined up debt financing from banks, the sources said. Bunge’s management team, led by Chief Executive Greg Heckman, would oversee the combined company, the sources added.
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