Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur, Ill., says it is abandoning plans to sell its cocoa business and will instead focus on divesting its chocolate operations.

ADM hired advisers to help sell the chocolate-making assets as it retains its cocoa presses. Selling the chocolate unit, which has operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany, is part of ADM’s review of its businesses. The company had determined that the cocoa unit, estimated to be worth $1.9 billion, should not be “held for sale,” according to a Nov. 1 filing.

“We had extensive negotiations with a potential buyer regarding the sale of our global cocoa and chocolate business,” ADM CEO Patricia A. Woertz said in a statement issued April 15. “In the end, we could not agree to an outcome that met ADM’s objectives.”

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek