SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — Bunge Global SA and Zen-Noh Group have agreed through a joint venture to purchase 50% of a grain terminal at the Port of Santos from Brazilian rail operator Rumo for 600 million reais ($115.3 million), Reuters reported, citing a securities filing.
Rumo said in the filing that it had tied up the binding agreement to sell its 50% stake in the XXXIX terminal at Latin America’s largest port. Terminal XXXIX has the capacity to store 135,000 tonnes of grain.
The firms said the deal would be made through a joint venture between US-based Bunge and Zen-Noh Grain Corp., the US subsidiary of Japan’s Zen-Noh Group, with each of the partners holding an equal stake. Brazilian food and fuel processor Caramuru Alimentos, one of the country's largest grain crushers, will continue to hold the remaining 50% of the terminal.
The closing of the deal remains subject to the usual regulatory approvals, Bunge said.
“With this deal, the companies expect to obtain larger logistical flexibility in a key export corridor in Brazil,” Bunge and Zen-Noh said.
Rumo and supply chain solutions provider DP World also reached an agreement in March tobuild a new port terminalfor grains and fertilizers at the Port of Santos. The project, which will be installed at DP World’s private-use terminal on the port’s left bank, will boost the port’s handling capacity by 9 million tonnes of grains and 3.5 million tonnes of fertilizers, DP World said.
