The transaction between Nidera and COFCO, announced on February 28, 2014 has been finalized. All regulatory approvals have been obtained to close the transaction whereby an investment consortium led by COFCO, consisting of Hopu Investment, Temasek, IFC, Standard and Chartered Private Equity, has acquired 51% of Nidera.
 
The partnership provides Nidera with great potential for growth in the Chinese market. It also strengthens COFCO’s position as a key player in the global agricultural industry through access to Nidera’s global origination and trading network and its fast growing seed business.
 
Ton van der Laan, CEO of Nidera: “This generates great growth opportunities. The Chinese and Asian markets are of great importance to Nidera. We were looking for a strong partner to jointly invest in future growth and a strategic partnership with COFCO is an ideal choice for Nidera and will benefit both sides”.
 
Patrick Yu, President of COFCO: “We’re happy to see the completion of the transaction,” said Patrick Yu, the COFCO president. “ Nidera enjoys an important global purchasing platform, trading network as well as a highly experienced management team. We are looking forward to working with Nidera to develop our companies, to contribute to the global market and to better serve our consumers. ”  According to Yu, COFCO and Nidera will share market information and promote Nidera’s seed business in China, which will promote the development of China’s domestic seed sector by upgrading the level of R&D and service in the domestic industry.
 
“In seizing this opportunity, COFCO is aiming to establish itself as a global player with a fully integrated value chain worldwide, and to contribute to the stability and development of the global market,” said Frank Ning, Chairman of COFCO.
 
 
About COFCO
COFCO is the largest supplier of diversified products and services in the agricultural products and food industry in China through its fully integrated value chain model covering all aspects in the agri-food sector. It has c.120,000 employees with over 12mn farming households participating in its business operation. COFCO has an extensive business portfolio covering agriculture commodity trading and processing, branded consumer foods, packaging materials and products, hotels & real estate, finance and others.
COFCO is a widely recognized global company. It has been awarded as one of the “Fortune 500” companies for 20 consecutive years, the only Chinese agri-food enterprise on the list.
 
About Nidera
Nidera is a major international agribusiness and trading company with an annual turnover in excess of USD 17 billion. Nidera was founded in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1920, with its early activities focusing on grain and foodstuffs merchandising in the regions from which it took its acronym: Nederland, (East) Indies, Deutschland, England, Russia, and Argentina. Currently Nidera has domestic and international operations in 21 major export and import countries and distributes its products to more than 60 countries in the world.
By consolidating its presence throughout the value chain, Nidera has created a platform that efficiently connects agricultural producers and food consumers.