中糧集團將買斷荷蘭穀物經銷商股權

Cofco, the state-backed Chinese food group, yesterday took a step towards becoming one of the leading agricultural traders by outlining an agreement to secure full ownership of Nidera, the Dutch grain dealer.

擁有國家背景的中糧集團(Cofco)昨日宣佈將獲得荷蘭穀物經銷商Nidera全部股權，向成爲領先農業貿易商又邁出一步。

The deal to buy the 49 per cent of Nidera that it does not already own will expand Cofco’s reach further into Europe and Latin America, as China attempts to build an agricultural trader that can fully compete with western rivals led by Cargill of the US.

該協議將收購中糧尚未持有的Nidera 49%剩餘股權，讓中糧的業務範圍進一步擴展至歐洲和拉丁美洲。中國試圖打造一家農業貿易商，可以與美國嘉吉(Cargill)爲首的西方對手全面抗衡。

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

該交易條款尚未公開。

Cofco plans to use the acquisition to kick-start proposals to merge its various units into a structure that more closely resembles the leading western agricultural traders — Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus — although it will retain a focus on supplying food for China’s fast-growing population.

中糧計劃利用這筆收購來啓動整合計劃，將旗下各部門合併成一個更接近西方領先農業貿易商——阿徹丹尼爾斯米德蘭(Archer Daniels Midland，ADM)、邦吉(Bunge)、嘉吉和路易達孚(Louis Dreyfus)——的組織，儘管它仍將專注於爲中國快速增長的人口供應糧食。

Matt Jansen, the head of the Cofco investment and trading divisions, who previously worked for ADM, said the Chinese company had to “change in order to improve”, describing the Nidera acquisition as key to its plans.

曾效力於ADM，現爲中糧投資和貿易部門負責人的馬特•詹森(Matt Jansen)表示，這家中國公司不得不“爲了改進而改變”，他稱收購Nidera對其計劃至關重要。

“In this instance, we are going beyond incremental improvements — this is a transformative deal that will help us evolve and thrive over the long-term,” he added.

他表示：“在這種情況下，我們將超越漸進式改進，這是一場變革性的交易，將有助於我們的長期發展和繁榮。”

“Our combination enlarges the playing field and opens up new opportunities that were previously closed to us.”

“我們的結合擴大了公平競爭的環境，開啓了此前對我們關閉的新商機。”

In March, Cofco secured full ownership of its agricultural joint venture with Hong Kong’s Noble Group, paying $750m for the 49 per cent it did not already own.

今年3月，中糧獲得了其與香港來寶集團(Noble Group)的農業合資企業的全部股權，以7.5億美元收購了剩餘49%的股份。

Cofco first bought 51 per cent of Nidera two years ago. It is buying the remaining 49 per cent from Nidera’s founding shareholders.

中糧於兩年前首次收購了Nidera 51%的股份，這次將從Nidera的創始股東處收購剩餘的49%的股份。

With Glencore, the Swiss-based miner cum trader, also expanding rapidly in food in recent years, there is now arguably a “big six” agricultural traders, although Cofco is the only state-backed company in that group.

隨着瑞士礦企和貿易商嘉能可(Glencore)近年在食品領域快速擴張，現在可以說有“六大”農業貿易商，儘管中糧是其中唯一有國家背景的公司。

Cofco’s expansion comes during challenging times for these traders, which have largely reported lower profits in the wake of falling crop prices.

中糧擴張之時，這些貿易商正處於挑戰性時期，由於農作物價格下跌，上述企業大多報告盈利下降。

Mr Jansen, who was hired by Cofco to run the joint venture with Noble last year, has changed the focus of that business from trading to more processing, notably of grains and oilseeds, and is looking to invest in more assets, especially in North America.

去年中糧聘請詹森執掌其與來寶的合資企業，他已將業務重點從交易更多地向加工轉變，尤其是穀物和油籽，同時尋求投資更多資產，尤其是在北美地區。