LONDON, U.K. (Reuters) — Swiss miner and trader Glencore and its partners are looking at options to expand their agricultural joint venture Viterra, including targeted bolt-on acquisitions in the Americas and Australia, two sources close to the matter said.
The firm, formerly known as Glencore Agriculture, made the headlines in 2017 for a failed takeover approach to Bunge Ltd., one of the giant names of global grain trading, then valued at $11 billion.
Four years later, its owners have not made any sizable deal and are still exploring ways to show value at a time of sustained higher grain prices. They are more likely to buy smaller or privately held companies, expanding mostly in the United States, but also South America and Australia, where Viterra already owns assets, the sources said.
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Glencore owns 50 percent of Viterra, having sold the other half to Canadian pension fund CPP Investments and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) in 2016, for $3.125 billion.
With an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $991 million in the first half of 2021, the company holds 180 storage and handling facilities, 30 processing and refining plants and 25 port terminals, used to handle millions of tonnes of grains, oilseeds, pulses, rice, sugar and cotton around the world.
