Mitsubishi will acquire Ceagro control for $ 498 million

The Japanese Mitsubishi will acquire control of Brazilian producer, holding Ceagro grains, with operations in the Midwest and in the so-called Mapito (Maranhão, Piauí and Tocantins), belonging to the Argentine group Los Grobo.
According to Nikkei agency disclosed on Friday and played by Dow Jones Newswires, Mitsubishi will spend 50 billion yen or $ 498 million for purchasing Ceagro's control. The figure includes more than 30 billion yen in loans to the Brazilian company and more than 10 billion yen for the purchase of shares which are in the hands of other investors, including the Argentine group Los Grobo.
The Mitsubishi trading had already acquired 20% of Ceagro last year. With the deal, the Japanese participation in the capital of Ceagro 80% will be.
Mitsubishi's intention is to duplicate the grain in negotiations over the next few years, today Ceagro in little more than one million tons per year. Within the broad agreement between the Los Grobo and Mitsubishi, grains that the Argentine company purchase on the local market and in Uruguay will be handed over to Mitsubishi for sale to large customers in Asia.
In the last harvest, which ended in June 2012, the Ceagro's revenue was around $ 450 million. The Los Grobo Group's overall revenue was about $ 1 billion. The Group planted in 2011/12 about 280 thousand hectares of soybeans in the four MERCOSUR countries-Brazil and Argentina are the key.
Currently, the Mitsubishi deal just over 10 million tons of grain per year, equivalent to 40% of Japanese imports, and plans to double that volume in 2020. (Collaborated Fabiana Baptist, São Paulo)