Houston | Reuters — Australian bank Macquarie Group is planning on buying Cargill’s global oil business, according to people familiar with the matter, marking the second energy business the global commodities trader has shed this year.
Terms of the deal have been agreed upon, but the integration could take several weeks or longer, one of the sources said.
The deal comes as Cargill has spent the past year streamlining its business amid a nearly three-year slump in global commodity prices. In January, sources said Cargill sold its U.S. gas and power business to commodities trader and investor TrailStone Group.
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A Cargill spokeswoman said the company continues to operate its U.S. gas and power business and its global oil business, but declined to comment on the acquisition by Macquarie. Macquarie also declined to comment.
Macquarie had also bid on Cargill’s gas and power business, a source said.
Privately held Cargill in January reported a higher quarterly profit, buoyed by strong results in its meats and U.S. crops business.
Many banks exited physical oil trading following the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s financial reform. U.S. President Donald Trump in February signed an executive order that would scale back the act, potentially creating a better environment for banks to trade physical commodities.
Cargill’s other recent divestitures include a soybean and rapeseed crush plant and soyoil refining plant in Amsterdam and a soybean and rapeseed crush plant at Brest in France. Both plants were sold to Bunge in a deal that closed Tuesday.
— Reporting for Reuters by Liz Hampton in Houston and Dmitry Zhdannikov and Julia Payne in London. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.
