Cargill and Zambeef Products have made progress towards completing a deal for Cargill to purchase Zamanita, the soybean crushing and refining subsidiary of Zambeef. The deal has been formally approved by Cargill’s Board of Directors and Zambeef’s shareholders voted to approve the transaction in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders.
The share sale agreement is for the purchase of 100% of Zambeef’s shareholding in Zamanita for a total cash consideration of US$25.7 million. The base purchase price will be adjusted for working capital and net financial debt at completion.
Zamanita is one of the largest edible oil and soya meal producers in Zambia that serves the domestic Zambian refined oils market and both domestic and export markets for soybean meal. On completion of the sale, Cargill will acquire all of Zamanita’s debt, assets and brands. Zamanita employees also will transfer to Cargill as part of the agreement.
The transaction is still subject to satisfaction of a number of conditions precedent, including the receipt of approval from the relevant competition authorities and this is expected to be completed within the next few weeks.
Opportunity to grow in Africa’s agricultural industry
“We are very excited about this opportunity,” explained Johan Steyn, head of Cargill’s grain and oilseeds business in Africa and the Middle East. “Cargill is a 150 year old agricultural and food production company and we’ve been operating in Africa for over 30 years. Oilseed crushing and refining is one of our core global capabilities, and buying this business will allow us to bring our world class expertise to the Zambian market while meeting our strategic intent to grow in Africa to serve our customers. We believe that African agricultural production is a critical part of any future solution to feeding the growing global population.”
“This business fits very well with our growth strategy in Zambia,” explained Lezanne van Zyl, General Manager of Cargill’s business in Zambia.
Cargill plans to invest in the crush and the refinery to expand their capacity and to bring them in line with the company’s network of over 1,000 state-of-the-art facilities in 67 countries around the world.
