MUNICH, GERMANY – BayWa AG has acquired 100% of internationally operating grain trader Cefetra B.V. for €125 million ($162 million) and 60% of the shares of north Germany agriculture trading group Bohnhorst Argrarhandel GmbH for €36 million ($47 million).
The acquisition will increase BayWa’s total traded grain volume to 28 million tonnes.
“BayWa not only strengthens its position as an important European grain trader, but also enforces its global footprint in the agricultural commodities space,” said Klaus Josef Lutz, chief executive officer of Munich-based BayWa, an international trading and services company.
Cefetra B.V., based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, trades grain on a global scale and is a leader in the European supply market for the compound feed sector in terms of soy, grain, and sunflower and rapeseed meal. The company has storage and port sites throughout Europe as well as a sourcing network in Poland. BayWa will acquire Cefetra from ForFarmers Group B.V. and the agricultural cooperatives Agrifirm Group B.V. and AgruniekRijnvallei B.V.
The Bohnhorst group has sourcing capacities, mainly in eastern Europe, and owns sites at deep sea ports along the Baltic sea coast. Helmut Bohnhorst Jr. will keep 40% of the shares of Bohnhorst and will continue as the company’s managing director.
“Besides our locations, we will now have direct access to the most important Germany waterways as well as the Baltic sea and, consequently, to the developing markets in eastern Europe,” Mr. Lutz said. “This is a significant advantage for the sourcing and marketing of grains.”
Both transactions are subject to the approval of antitrust authorities. They are expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2013.