In December 2014 South Korea-based Harim Group’s Jeil Holdings Co. Ltd in partnership with JKL Partners became the preferred bidders to acquire the world’s largest bulk shipping company, Pan Ocean Co Ltd, which has been spun off from STX Group, and which has been in receivership since 2013, in a deal worth just under US$900 million. Pan Ocean ships 120 million tons of bulk cargo per year, with sales reaching US$13.5 billion in 2014.
Once the Pan Ocean acquisition is completed in May, Harim plans to develop and add a grain trading business to the shipping company with the goal of building a major grain dealer in the sector while growing sales at Pan Ocean by seven times to US$8.97 billion.
Harim Group owns four listed companies – poultry meat producer, Harim Co. Ltd, pork and feed producers Sunjin Co. Ltd and Farmsco, and Harim Holdings Co Ltd. The group also has a poultry processing plant in the U.S. and feed plants in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and in Myanmar. Their extensive businesses requiring grains gives the company a built-in demand base, and the addition of a grain trading company to Pan Ocean will also help streamline efficiency in the shipping business, since it will avoid vessels making return voyages with empty holds.
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