US agribusiness Bunge Ltd. agreed to buy Glencore Plc-backed Viterra for $8.2 billion in stock and cash, creating a trading giant capable of competing with the world’s biggest agricultural commodity traders.
Viterra shareholders will eventually own about 30% of the combined business after the transaction, the companies said Tuesday in a joint statement. Roughly 75% of the payment would be made in Bunge stock, and another 25%, or $2 billion, in cash.
Combining the two will create a trader big enough to take on the industry’s elite: Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc. and Chicago’s Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. The deal is the culmination of Bunge Chief Executive Officer Greg Heckman’s transformation of the once troubled St. Louis-based crop trader into a cash-rich oilseeds champion.
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