World Grain - April 2014 - 18

newsreview
COFCO, Noble to create agribusiness joint venture
HONG KONG, CHINA - COFCO Corp. and Noble Group
Limited announced on April 2 that they have entered into definitive agreements to form an agribusiness joint venture, Noble
Agri Limited.
Under the terms of the agreement, COFCO will acquire a 51%
stake in Noble Agri Limited from Noble Group in an all cash
transaction to establish a 51%/49% joint venture. The transaction
values Noble Agri equity at 1.15x 2014 book value. As of Dec. 31,
2013, Noble Agri had shareholders' equity of $2.8 billion and net
debt of $2.5 billion.
Noble Agri will become the principal international origination
platform for COFCO, with its upstream origination and trading
operations linked to the downstream processing and distribution
capabilities of COFCO and its affiliates in China to create a fully
integrated value chain, consistent with COFCO's strategy.
A consortium of international investors led by
HOPU Investments will join COFCO as minority co-investors in this acquisition. COFCO will
hold two-thirds of the investment vehicle with
the balance held by the HOPU-led consortium.
Frank Ning, chairman of COFCO will assume
the role of chairman of Noble Agri and Richard
Elman, founder and chairman of Noble Group,
will take on the role of deputy chairman. Yusuf Alireza, chief
executive officer (CEO) of Noble Group, will be the interim CEO
working closely with the current Noble Agri leadership team.
"Noble Agri's supply chain management system and origination capabilities complement COFCO's logistics, processing, and
distribution network in China," Ning said. "Incremental trade volumes from COFCO as a strategic investor will create significant
synergy and value."
"We feel confident about our partnership with COFCO and believe that with the financial and business support of our new partners we will accelerate the execution of our strategy," Elman said.

"We are committed to the continued growth and success of
Noble Agri Ltd and the new shareholders of Noble Agri share the
vision and passion to build a leading global agricultural firm,"
Alireza said.
In the next several months, COFCO and Noble Group will work
closely to obtain the relevant regulatory and shareholders approvals required to complete the transaction.
Founded in 1949, COFCO has developed from a grains and
oilseeds trading company into China's leading service provider
of agricultural products and diversified food services. From
trading and processing of grains and oilseeds, COFCO's value
chain has now extended to origination and husbandry, logistics
and storage, raw materials processing, biofuels, branded food
production and sales, hotels and real estate, financial services,
among others.
Established in 1998, Noble Agri is the agriculture platform of Noble Group and mainly
engages in agricultural trading and processing
business which it originates from low-cost producing regions such as South America, South
Africa, East Europe, India, and Australia, to
supply regions with high demand, such as Asia
and Middle East.
Noble Agri conducts business via three operating segments:
Grains and Oilseeds which originates, processes, and distributes
grains and oilseeds such as corn, wheat, soybean and vegetable
oil; Softs which engages in the trading of soft commodities such
as cocoa, cotton, coffee and sugar; and Sugar which is involved
in the production of both raw and processed sugar and ethanol,
as well as in the operations of sugar mills and the cultivation of
sugar cane.
Operating from over 140 locations and employing more than 70
nationalities, Noble Group facilitates the marketing, processing,
financing and transportation of essential raw materials.

For more information, see Page 142.

April 2014 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.prive.fr http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - April 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - April 2014