Australia’s largest edible oil business, GrainCorp, Ltd has agreed to sell its bulk liquid terminals business to ANZ Terminals Pty Ltd for approximately A$350M (US$246M).
The Australian Bulk Liquid Terminals business was acquired by GrainCorp in 2012 as part of its acquisition of Gardner Smith. It operates eight liquid terminal sites across Australia, with a combined storage capacity of approximately 211,000 m3, GrainCorp said in a press release on 4 March.
“The sites specialise in the storage and handling of bulk liquid fats and oils, fuels and chemicals for a range of customers, including GrainCorp Oils. As part of the transaction, GrainCorp Oils will enter into a long-term storage agreement with ANZ Terminals.
“Since we acquired the assets in 2012, the Australian Bulk Liquid Terminals business mix has evolved substantially and is increasingly serving other sectors, in addition to the edible oils commodities that are more closely aligned with GrainCorp’s core business,” said GrainCorp managing director and CEO Mark Palmquist. “Divesting the assets to another experienced operator, while also putting in place a long-term storage agreement, allows us ongoing and secure access to the storage needed to support our oils business, whilst releasing capital and unlocking significant value for our shareholders.”
GrainCorp said the sale was the outcome of an ongoing portfolio review and it retained ownership of its New Zealand bulk liquid terminals, although it was reviewing options for this business.
The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and a number of conditions.
GrainCorp is Australia and New Zealand’s largest integrated edible oils business and also handles and stores grain and oilseeds in Australia. It has a combined storage capacity of 20M tonnes in Australia and operates seven bulk grain export elevators carrying an average of 5M tonnes each.
It crushes canola, and produces canola oil and meal for domestic and international markets, with plants in Numurkah, Victoria; and Pinjarra, Western Australia, producing about 120,000 tonnes/year of oil and 180,000 tonnes/year of meal.
ANZ Terminals is a leading independent provider of bulk liquid storage terminals across Australia and New Zealand with a total storage capacity of some 426,000m3.