Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced three
significant actions in the company’s ongoing portfolio management: an
agreement to sell the company’s South American fertilizer business,
pursuit of the sale of the company’s chocolate business, and the
acquisition of the remaining stake of Alfred C. Toepfer International
GmbH.
“We are committed to ongoing portfolio management to realize value from
our businesses and to deploy our capital where it can best improve
returns,” said ADM Chairman and CEO Patricia A. Woertz. “The actions we
are announcing today are results of this continuing process. Each of
these transactions will help ADM continue to improve returns and create
shareholder value.
“These actions complement recent demand-driven strategic investments,
such as our $250 million high-value protein facility in Brazil,” Woertz
added. “We are taking action to realize returns today and positioning
ourselves for continuing profitable growth around the globe in the
future.”
Agreement to Sell Brazil and Paraguay Fertilizer Business
ADM has signed an agreement to sell its fertilizer business in Brazil
and Paraguay to The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) for $350 million. The
transaction consists primarily of five ADM-owned blending facilities in
Brazil and Paraguay. The purchase price includes $150 million in working
capital. As part of the transaction, ADM will purchase fertilizer from
Mosaic after the closing and will continue to supply certain fertilizer
customers in Brazil and Paraguay. The proposed sale will be contingent
on customary regulatory approvals.
“Our fertilizer team has done a good job building the business since we
purchased our first blending facility in 1997,” said Woertz. “But the
lengthy value chain inherent in the fertilizer business, along with
strong competition from fully integrated companies that have entered the
sector, has made it difficult for this business to consistently meet our
return objectives. By selling our blending assets—while retaining our
distribution business—we will be improving our returns while maintaining
our important origination relationships with key growers in Brazil and
Paraguay.”
Pursuit of Sale of Chocolate Business
ADM will pursue the sale of its chocolate business, while retaining the
majority of its cocoa press operations. The company has engaged advisers
to facilitate the sale process.
“Over the last year or so, we’ve taken significant actions to improve
our cocoa business, most notably by significantly reducing invested
capital. At the same time, we have also seen industry conditions improve
as crop supplies have returned to normal,” said Woertz. “Given improved
underlying conditions and the success of our efforts to reduce capital
intensity, we see a promising outlook for the cocoa press business and
believe it will meet our returns objectives.
“We had extensive negotiations with a potential buyer regarding the sale
of our global cocoa and chocolate business. In the end, we could not
agree to an outcome that met ADM’s objectives. Instead, ADM is moving
ahead with a process to sell our global chocolate business while
retaining most of our cocoa press operations. This approach will
position ADM to realize the greatest overall value from these
businesses.”
ADM has chocolate manufacturing operations in Hazleton, Pa.; Milwaukee,
Wis.; Georgetown, Ontario; Liverpool, U.K.; Manage, Belgium; and
Mannheim, Germany.
Acquisition of Remaining Stake in Toepfer
ADM will acquire the remaining 20 percent minority stake of Alfred C.
Toepfer International for €83 million, representing about 1.1x net book
value. The proposed transaction, which is occurring through the exercise
of a put agreement by Union InVivo, will be subject to customary
regulatory approvals. Since 2002, ADM has owned 80 percent of Toepfer;
InVivo has held the remaining 20 percent since 2010.
“Toepfer has an important presence in critical origination areas as well
as growing destination markets,” said Woertz. “For years, ADM has
benefitted from our investment in Toepfer. Now, full ownership will
allow us to strengthen this business and fully integrate it into ADM’s
global origination network.”
InVivo will remain a strategic business partner for ADM in Europe.
About ADM
For more than a century, the people of Archer Daniels Midland Company
(NYSE: ADM) have transformed crops into products that serve vital needs.
Today, 31,000 ADM employees around the globe convert oilseeds, corn,
wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, industrial and
energy uses. With more than 270 processing plants, 470 crop procurement
facilities, and the world’s premier crop transportation network, ADM
helps connect the harvest to the home in more than 140 countries. For
more information about ADM and its products, visit www.adm.com.
About Alfred C. Toepfer International
Alfred C. Toepfer International (Toepfer) is a global merchandiser of
agricultural commodities and processed products. Toepfer consists of a
headquarters in Hamburg, Germany and 36 sales offices worldwide. Toepfer
operates inland, river, and export facilities in Argentina, Hungary,
Romania, Ukraine, and the United States.
Copyright Business Wire 2014