Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Chicago, has reached an agreement to sell its global cocoa business to Olam International Limited, Singapore, for $1.3 billion, subject to customary adjustments.
“We are continuing to actively manage our portfolio to create shareholder value by improving returns and dampening the volatility of our earnings,” says Patricia Woertz, ADM chairman and CEO. “This transaction will allow us to redeploy capital to investments that offer improved returns potential and less volatility than the cocoa business, or distribute excess capital to shareholders, or a combination of both.”
The sale encompasses ADM’s entire global cocoa business, including processing facilities in Mississauga, Ontario; Koog aan de Zaan and Wormer, Netherlands; Mannheim, Germany; Ilhéus, Brazil; Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; Kumasi, Ghana; and Singapore. Also included are ADM’s buying stations in Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Indonesia, as well as the company’s deZaan and UNICAO brands.
The majority of the approximately 1,550 colleagues in ADM’s cocoa business will transfer to Olam with the sale.
The proposed sale, which is contingent on customary regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2015. This transaction does not impact the sale of ADM’s chocolate business to Cargill, which is progressing as planned.
