Bunge to Make First Investment in Oil Palm Industry
2011-11-04 12:15:13
Bunge Agribusiness Singapore Pte. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), on November 1 announced that it intends to form a joint venture with PT Bumiraya Investindo ("BRI"), the Indonesian palm plantation subsidiary of PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food Tbk ("TPS Food"). This would be Bunge's first investment in the palm oil industry.
Under the terms of the agreement with TPS Food, Bunge Agribusiness Singapore Pte. Ltd would acquire a 35% minority stake in BRI. The transaction is subject to approval by TPS Food shareholders and regulatory approvals in Indonesia.
Christopher White, CEO, Bunge Asia, stated, "Our investment in BRI represents a first step in building an upstream presence in palm oil. It is a natural fit, through which we can leverage our core capabilities and experience in a complementary value chain that represents over 30% of the world's total vegetable oil production."
TPS Food, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, is a leading food company in Indonesia. In the last two years the company entered palm production as well as rice processing and distribution.
BRI owns land banks in Sumatra and Kalimantan and operates four plantations in Kalimantan. It is also constructing a crude palm oil mill in Kalimantan. Preliminary satellite analysis shows that BRI's land banks do not contain primary forest.
About Bunge Asia
Bunge Asia, the Asia-Pacific operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), supplies agricultural commodities and products such as protein meals, vegetable oils, grains and sugar to customers in the livestock and food industries. Bunge Asia also sells branded food products in China and India. With headquarters in Singapore, Bunge Asia currently operates in China, India, Southeast Asia and Australia.
About Bunge Limited
Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com, NYSE: BG) is a leading global agribusiness and food company with approximately 32,000 employees in more than 30 countries. Bunge buys, sells, stores and transports oilseeds and grains to serve customers worldwide; processes oilseeds to make protein meal for animal feed and edible oil products for commercial customers and consumers; produces sugar and ethanol from sugarcane; mills wheat and corn to make ingredients used by food companies; and sells fertilizer in North and South America. Founded in 1818, the company is headquartered in White Plains, New York.