July 31, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Wilmar International Corporation (Wilmar) announced it has divested its entire 30.05 percent stake in major sugar company Cosumar S.A. (Cosumar) for approximately $605 million through a deal struck with “several Moroccan investors”.

Incorporated in Morocco and listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, the bulk of Cosumar’s business is in the production of sugar through the processing of sugar cane and sugar beets, along with the refining of imported raw sugar and the marketing and distribution of these products. 

Wilmar entered the global sugar market with its 2010 acquisition of Australia’s Sucrogen Limited, one of the world’s largest sugar companies, now known as Wilmar Sugar, and PT Jawamanis Rafinasi – one of Indonesia’s top sugar refiners according to the company’s website. In the ensuing years, the group has been party to many key deals in the segment including the acquisition of Indonesia’s PT Duta Sugar International and Proserpine Mill, the fifth largest sugar mill in Australia. 

In 2013, as part of its push into Africa, Wilmar went on to acquire a 27.5 percent stake in Morocco’s Cosumar – the only sugar producer in the country and the third largest producer and second largest refiner in Africa – from Societe Nationale d’Investissement for $263 million. This stake was later raised to 30.05 percent. In 2014, Wilmar acquired a 27.72 percent stake in Shree Renuka Sugars Limited, the top producer in India, and created a 55:45 joint venture with Great Wall Food Stuff Industry Co. Ltd., the leading sugar company in Myanmar.

Today, the company is one of the largest listed companies on the Singapore exchange and is Asia’s leading agribusiness group with activities ranging from the cultivation and milling of palm oil and sugarcane; the processing, branding, and distribution of a range of food products in consumer, medium, and bulk packaging; animal feeds; and industry agri-products such as biodiesel and oleochemicals. 

It also is one of the world’s top 10 raw sugar producers with operations in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Morocco, India, Myanmar, Brazil, and China, making it one of the world’s largest international sugar traders. It has more than 500 manufacturing plants and a distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia, and 50 other countries and regions worldwide. 

As part of this most recent deal, Wilmar has also agreed to acquire Cosumar’s entire 45 percent stake in Wilmaco – a business active in the production, development, processing, import, export, and marketing of vegetable fats and their by-products – for a total cash consideration of $8.7 million.

Wilmaco is also in the midst of constructing its Wimaco specialty fats facility in Morocco, which is expected to be completed by Q4 2023. 

In addition, Wilmar will acquire Cosumar’s entire 43.275 percent stake in Durrah Advanced Development – a Saudi Arabian refiner of high-quality white sugar for the retail and industrial segments – for approximately $64.7 million, lifting Wilmar’s interest in the company from 5 percent to 48.275 percent. The remaining 51.725 percent interest in the company is held by local Saudi investors. 

Likewise, Durrah is developing a state-of-the-art sugar refinery at King Fahad Industrial Port at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia with a capital investment of 1.2 billion Saudi Riyals (US$320 million). 

Given the settlement of all terms and conditions, the Wimaco and Durrah transactions are expected to be finalized by September 2023, and the Cosumar deal is expected to close in Q4 2023, at the latest. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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