Bunge has entered into an agreement to acquire Westfälische Lebensmittelwerke Lindemann GmbH & Co. KG, a supplier of oils and fats in Germany.
Established in 1902 in Bünde, East Westphalia, the family-owned business has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of oils and fats to both the industrial and artisan channels of the German bakery market.
The Lindemann portfolio is an excellent fit with Bunge and will allow the company to offer a broader, high value range of products in response to consumer trends and its customer requirements, Bunge said.
“This acquisition will allow us to build a more robust and balanced B2B oil and fat business by expanding our portfolio and capabilities to the bakery segment,” said Tommy Jensen, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bunge EMEA. “It will enable us to strengthen our presence in Northwestern Europe that we have established with our existing assets and our recent acquisition of Walter Rau Neusser.”
This agreement is the latest of expansions for Bunge this year.
Bunge completed the acquisition of Cargill’s soybean/rapeseed crush and oil refinery and the beans discharging operation alongside its processing plant in the port of Amsterdam, Netherlands, as well as its soybean/rapeseed crush facility in Brest, France on March 1.
The company also formed an ocean freight joint venture in mid-February. Koninklijke Bunge B.V. (Bunge), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bunge Ltd., a global agribusiness and food company, and Bahri Dry Bulk Co. (BDB), a subsidiary of the Bahri Group, the national shipping arm of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, created a joint venture to establish an ocean freight supplier for dry bulk import and export flows in and out of the Middle East region.
Partnerships are a priority for Bunge, said Soren Schroder, CEO of Bunge, during a Feb. 15 conference call with analysts to discuss fiscal 2016 results. The company has created strategic joint ventures in Brazil, Canada and Vietnam that are improving its competitive position and allowing the company to grow in a capital-efficient way. Bunge also has expanded access to critical markets through distribution partnerships, such as OSI and OFI in the Philippines for oil distribution in the Asia-Pacific region.
By Holly Demaree
Source: World Grain
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