Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has agreed to sell its South American fertilizer unit in Brazil and Paraguay to Mosaic for $350 million in cash and could be selling its chocolate business within months. ADM plans to buy the remaining 20% stock it doesn’t own in European grain business Alfred C. Toepfer International for $115 million, which it has been an investor in since 2002. The purchase of the unit will increase Mosaic’s production capacity in the two countries by 60%. The deal includes four blending and warehousing facilities in Brazil and one in Paraguay that will be in addition to Mosaic’s seven existing plants in Brazil, and will complement Mosaic’s recent purchase of rival CF Industries Holding’s phosphate fertilizer operations. Separately, ADM plans to sell its global chocolate making business while retaining its cocoa processing business. The company has not ruled out dividing the business into pieces to sell to multiple buyers in order to secure the best price. The chocolate business has operations in the U.S., Canada, UK, Belgium, and Germany.
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