Olam International and Mitsubishi Corporation signed a joint venture agreement to create MC Agri Alliance (MCAA). The joint venture will be owned 30% by Olam and 70% by Mitsubishi and will source, import and distribute sustainably produced coffee, cocoa, sesame, nuts, spices, vegetables, and tomato products to the Japanese market.

MCAA will benefit from the strengths of both companies, relying on Olam’s global supply chain, agricultural production, origination, processing and trading capacities, and its experience in dealing with smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa, while utilizing Mitsubishi’s vertically integrated distribution and sales networks in place in Japan.

This joint venture is the first major move for Olam after Mitsubishi paid $1.1 billion through two separate transactions to acquire a 20% strategic stake in Olam International making it the company’s second largest shareholder after state-investment firm, Temasek Holding Pte Ltd which now holds 51.4%.

Consumer food purchasing trends continue to shift toward a preference for sustainably produced and sourced products. Through Olam’s global supply networks in the coffee, cocoa, edible nuts, and other raw ingredient segments, MCAA will be able to meet the demand for such foods to Japan’s consumers once it is operational at the beginning of October, 2016.

Additionally, in a separate development, Olam International has secured a revolving credit facility of $650 million.

“We are pleased to announce the successful completion of this refinancing, which is a part of our ongoing efforts to optimize the overall tenor and cost of our debt portfolio,” said Olam Group CFO, N. Muthukumar.

The facility will be structured as two tranches of $325 million each and will includes both a 364-day revolving credit facility and a two year revolving credit facility which will be used to refinance existing debt and to satisfy working capital and general funding needs.