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ADM Buys Assets Of Rabo Equity-backed Oilseeds Firm Geepee Agri

By TEAM VCC

  • 07 Sep 2011

Agriculture conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) has said that it has acquired two oilseeds processing facilities in India from Geepee Agri Pvt Ltd, backed by Rabo Equity Advisors’ India Agri Business Fund. ADM has not disclosed the deal value, though. The purchase comes as the $81 billion company is looking to expand its global oilseed processing capacity.

The deal marks the debut exit for the $120 million India Agri Business Fund, Rabo Equity’s chairman & MD Rajesh Srivastava confirmed to VCCircle.

Rabo Equity Advisors picked up 26 per cent stake in Geepee Agri Pvt Ltd (formerly Noble Grain India Pvt Ltd) for Rs 30 crore in October 2009. Rabo’s investment came after the GP Group bought out its joint venture partner Noble Group in the firm.

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The facilities acquired by ADM are located in the cities of Kota (Rajasthan) and Akola (Maharashtra), and process rapeseed, soy and palm.

The new processing facilities complement the company’s recent purchase of the remaining interests in Tinna Oils, which is now wholly owned by ADM. The Tinna Oils acquisition includes a soybean and sunflower seed processing plant in Latur, a soybean and sunseed processing plant in Dharwad and a port warehouse in Visakhapatnam.

Earlier this year, ADM had purchased the soybean processing assets of Madhur Agro, located in Nagpur.

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The facilities in Akola and Nagpur, both in Maharashtra, include soybean crushing, refining and packaging capabilities, enabling ADM to produce vegetable oil and meal for food and animal feed markets. The two plants serve the domestic market for packaged oils and the export market for soy meal. Additionally, the site in Akola contains a palm oil refinery and warehouses for raw and processed materials.

The Kota site operates a facility for soy and rapeseed crushing, refining and packaging. This location gives ADM an advantageous access to the growing domestic rape oil market, as well as the rape meal export market. The plant’s soy processing capabilities will also enable ADM to supply soy oil directly to the north Indian market.

“This acquisition advances ADM’s strategy to expand the size and global reach of the company’s operations and increase its presence in the growing Indian market,” said Brent Fenton, president, ADM Europe. “We will integrate these operations into the global supply chain to strengthen the oilseeds processing activities in India.”

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The company has also established its Indian headquarters in Gurgaon, which will oversee countrywide operations and manage sales, purchase and administration.

“These new assets support ADM’s expansion of the oilseeds origination network in Central Asia, which is a region of great interest to our business,” said Kevin Eikerman, managing director of ADM Oilseeds India.

“The close proximity of suppliers and customers, coupled with ADM’s global reach and export capabilities, will open up excellent opportunities to connect local crops with global markets,” he added.

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