Paris | Reuters — French co-operative group Vivescia has entered into an agreement to buy German malting barley trader Interbrau GmbH from Swiss grain trading group Ameropa, the companies said Thursday. Founded in 1961, Interbrau specializes in international malting barley trading and logistics, and operates in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Canada. The acquisition […] Read more
Malteurop parent to buy barley trader Interbrau
ConAgra names activist investor nominees to board
Reuters — ConAgra Foods said it would add two directors, including a former Nestle executive nominated by Jana Partners, three weeks after the activist investor took a stake in the food processing company and called for changes. ConAgra will appoint former Nestle USA CEO Bradley Alford and former Walgreens Boots Alliance CFO Timothy McLevish to […] Read more
U.S. forecaster sees El Nino likely into N. Hemisphere spring
New York | Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday warned that much-watched El Nino conditions are likely to last another nine months, potentially roiling global crops and commodities prices. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center projected a more than 90 per cent chance that El Nino would continue through this winter […] Read more
PotashCorp not planning to increase K+S bid
Reuters — Canada’s PotashCorp does not plan to sweeten its bid for German rival K+S AG, several people familiar with the Canadian mineral miner said, downplaying a media report that it would consider such a move. The proposed bid of 41 euros (C$58) per share already represented an unusually high premium and should not be […] Read more
PotashCorp says can address K+S concerns about tie-up
Frankfurt | Reuters — Canada’s PotashCorp said it was confident of addressing concerns raised by K+S over its 7.9 billion euro (C$11 billion) takeover proposal for the German potash miner, giving K+S’s stock a boost. K+S rejected PotashCorp’s proposed bid as too low on Thursday, saying its suitor could be planning to dismantle and shrink […] Read more
JBS to buy Cargill’s U.S. pork assets for US$1.45B
Reuters — JBS SA, the world’s largest meat packer, is buying Cargill’s U.S. pork business for US$1.45 billion, free of debt, it said in a statement on Wednesday, a deal that would make it one of the largest and most powerful meat companies in the U.S. The bid by the company’s JBS USA subsidiary comes […] Read more
Potash miner Sirius wins approval for mine in British national park
London | Reuters — Potash mine developer Sirius Minerals on Tuesday won the go-ahead to build a large mine in a scenic national park in Yorkshire, northern England, a company spokesman said, clearing a major hurdle in the construction of the US$3 billion project. The North York Moors National Park’s planning committee members, who were […] Read more
USDA takes first step to import fresh beef from Brazil, Argentina
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending its regulations to allow fresh beef into the U.S. from Brazil and Argentina under specific conditions that mitigate risk of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the agency said Monday. “This is the first step of a process for these […] Read more
Russian PM says can change list of banned imports
Moscow | Reuters –– A list of Western products that Russia has banned could be changed according to the state of relations with the European Union and other countries, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. Medvedev told a government meeting he had approved an order, initiated by President Vladimir Putin, to extend a […] Read more
Putin adds another year to ban on Western food imports
Moscow | Reuters –– Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended the country’s ban on food imports from the West by one year, longer than had been expected, in retaliation to the extension of European sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine. The ban, which prohibits most food imports from the U.S., the European Union, Australia, Canada and […] Read more
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