US agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) signed an agreement on 17 January to acquire the remaining 50% stake of Gleadell Agriculture Ltd, UK, which it currently owns with French agricultural cooperative group InVivo.
Gleadell is a leading UK trader and exporter of oilseeds, grain and pulses and the deal includes its wholly-owned subsidiary, Dunns (Long Sutton) Ltd, one of the largest pulse and agricultural seed processors in the UK.
“ADM will merge Gleadell and Dunns with ADM Arkady – ADM’s UK destination marketing business– and ADM Direct UK – ADM’s specialist combinable crop origination business – to create ADM Agriculture Ltd,” the US company said.
“The transaction will increase the origination, storage and destination marketing capabilities of ADM, allowing it to serve as the trader partner of choice for even more farmers and customers.”
Established in 1880, Gleadell Agriculture is a leading supplier of combinable crops to UK millers, feed compounders and other consumers, and a major exporter of grains, oilseeds and pulses to EU markets and further afield. It sources crops directly from UK farmers and supplies certified seed and fertilisers. Key assets include port storage and ship loading operations, along with pulse and agricultural seed processing and storage.
The deal is subject to regulatory review and is set to close at the end of the first quarter of 2019, ADM said.
InVivo has some 201 member cooperatives and is organised around four activity clusters – agriculture, nutrition and animal health, retail and wine. Its owns French animal feed business Neovia, which ADM agreed to buy for €1.535 billion (US$1.75bn) in July last year as part of its strategy to expand in the fast growing animal nutrition sector.
ADM said in March last year that it was shifting its business segments into four new units – carbohydrate solutions, nutrition, oilseeds and origination – to differentiate its offerings to customers.
As part of its strategy to expand in nutrition, ADM also announced on 11 January that it had agreed to acquire Florida Chemical Company, which specialises in citrus-based flavours and fragrances and is one of the world’s largest providers of citrus oils and ingredients.
