Merger between two of the world’s largest grain merchandisers is troubling

Sep 19, 2024 at 03:53 PM CST
As American grocery buyers await a Federal Trade Commission verdict on Kroger’s two-year-old, $24.6 billion bid to buy competitor Albertsons, the European Commission took just 35 days to give its blessing to the merger between two of the world’s largest grain merchandisers, Bunge and Viterra. The mega-deal, valued at about $34 billion at the time of its June 2023 announcement, isn’t a slam dunk, though. Canada, where both companies own substantial export facilities in Vancouver, is holding up approval as it evaluates the deal’s impact on western Canada’s grain markets. And for good reason. Bunge, the world’s fifth-largest

Sep 19, 2024 at 03:53 PM CST

As American grocery buyers await a Federal Trade Commission verdict on Kroger’s two-year-old, $24.6 billion bid to buy competitor Albertsons, the European Commission took just 35 days to give its blessing to the merger between two of the world’s largest grain merchandisers, Bunge and Viterra.

The mega-deal, valued at about $34 billion at the time of its June 2023 announcement, isn’t a slam dunk, though. Canada, where both companies own substantial export facilities in Vancouver, is holding up approval as it evaluates the deal’s impact on western Canada’s grain markets.

And for good reason.

Bunge, the world’s fifth-largest