Bunge
Bunge said it will sell 45% of its equity in its Vietnam crush operations to Wilmar.
 
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S. — Bunge Limited and Wilmar International Limited announced on July 5 they are forming a joint venture in Vietnam to leverage both companies' footprints in Asia.

Bunge will sell 45% of its equity in its Vietnam crush operations to Wilmar, creating a three-party joint venture with Bunge and Wilmar as equal 45% shareholders and Quang Dung – a leading soybean meal distributor in Vietnam and majority owner of Green Feed, a growing Vietnamese feed milling business – retaining its existing 10% stake in the operations.  


The transaction establishes a strategic collaboration between three uniquely positioned leaders in the Vietnamese oil and feed markets, unlocking growth potential by connecting Bunge's upstream crushing capabilities to Wilmar's downstream oil refining and consumer products business, and to Green Feed's feed milling and marketing activities. The joint venture creates integrated operations that are both a source and sales outlet for oil in Vietnam – one of the fastest-growing domestic edible oils markets in Asia – and that enable increased participation in the domestic feed milling industry.

Bunge
Soren Schroder, CEO of Bunge.
"Bunge is excited to partner with Wilmar, the largest downstream edible oils player in Vietnam," said Soren Schroder, chief executive officer (CEO), Bunge Limited. "The collaboration will create increased operating, marketing and logistics synergies across the Vietnam oils and soybean meal value chains, and help us remain a low-cost operator with the highest efficiency possible."

The joint venture is the latest for Wilmar, which has been partnering with companies across the world as it seeks to grow its business. In May, it announced a joint venture with Ruchi Soya, an Indian manufacturer and marketer of oils, soya food, and other food ingredients.

In January, Wilmar’s subsidiary, Yihai Kerry Investments Co. Ltd., created a joint venture with Singapore Food Industries Pte. Ltd. to supply food to the Chinese market. In December 2015, Wilmar and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) agreed to make Olenex, a partnership to market oils and fats in Europe, a joint venture with its own assets.

ADM increased its holdings in Wilmar this March, buying 64 million shares from Martua Sitorus, Wilmar’s co-founder and deputy chairman. That increased ADM’s holding in Wilmar from 195 to 20%.

In October 2015, Wilmar joined with Saigon Union of Trading Cooperatives to create Nam Duong International Foodstuff Corp. to manufacture sauces and condiments. In July 2015, Wilmar announced a joint venture with U.K.-based Volac International Limited to develop an animal feed fat business around the world.

Wilmar’s latest partner, Bunge, is a global agribusiness and food company operating in over 40 countries with approximately 35,000 employees.  Bunge buys, sells, stores and transports oilseeds and grains to serve customers worldwide; processes oilseeds to make protein meal for animal feed and edible oil products for commercial customers and consumers; produces sugar and ethanol from sugarcane; mills wheat, corn and rice to make ingredients used by food companies.