A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
US food company Bunge said on Tuesday that it had completed its purchase of a 54.69 per cent stake in rival French oilseed processor Cereol from Italy's Edison, and confirmed it would bid for the rest of Cereol.
The move, approved by the European and US regulators, would make agribusiness firm Bunge , of White Plains, New York, the world's top soybean processor.
The US firm confirmed in a statement issued in Paris that it would offer €32 a share, or about $375 million, for the remainder of Cereol .
If all Cereol shares were tendered to the bid, the offer values Cereol at €821.4 million. Bunge paid Edison some €450 million for its Cereol stake and Bunge will also take on some $764 million in Cereol's debt.
However, Edison and shareholders in Cereol who tender their shares could receive extra cash of up to three euros per Cereol share, depending on the outcome of a lawsuit over condiments firm Ducros, Bunge said.
Cereol inherited a lawsuit initiated by US spices giant McCormick from its previous parent, Franco-Italian food group Eridania Beghin-Say, concerning Eridania's sale of Ducros to McCormick in 2000.