World Grain - April 2016 - 12

NEWSREVIEW

COFCO completes purchase of Noble Agri Limited
BEIJING, CHINA - COFCO International Limited, subsidiary of
COFCO Corp., announced on March 3 that it has completed the
purchase of Noble Agri Limited. The company has been renamed
COFCO Agri Ltd.
The agreement, in which COFCO acquired the 49% stake of NoEOH$JULKHOGE\1REOH*URXSIRUPLOOLRQZDV¿UVWDQQRXQFHG
on Dec. 22, 2015. In January, the agreement received 90% approval
from total votes cast by Noble shareholders.
Prior to the sale of COFCO's 49% stake, Noble Agri was a joint
venture between Noble Group and a consortium consisting of COF&2+238,QYHVWPHQWDQGRWKHULQWHUQDWLRQDO¿QDQFLDOLQYHVWRUV
Noble had been under pressure to raise cash to avoid losing its investment grade rating and being dropped to junk bond status. Noble
Group's Corporate & Others segment, which included Noble Agri

Limited, reported on Nov. 13, 2015, a loss of $60.7 million compared
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Noble Group's shares have fallen more than 60% in the past year,
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in nearly 20 years after recording a large writedown on commodity
contracts that have been at the center of criticisms of its accounting.
"The closing of the acquisition marks a major milestone," said
Matt Jensen, CEO of COFCO Argri Ltd. "We are going to make
COFCO Agri a trusted brand in the global agribusiness industry."
Patrick Yu, president of COFCO Corp., said, "COFCO Agri is
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agribusiness. Performance across all business units has improved
dramatically since June of last year, and we expect to see further
improvement in 2016."

ADM selects president for North American Refined Oils
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S. - Erik Heggen has been named presiGHQW1RUWK$PHULFDQ5H¿QHG2LOVIRU$UFKHU'DQLHOV0LGODQG&R
(ADM). He will oversee the company's North American vegetable
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Heggen replaces Ray Bradbury, who recently was appointed
president, risk management, for ADM's Corn business unit. Heggen
joined ADM in 2001. He has held key roles in the North American
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"Erik has been instrumental in delivering great service to our re¿QHGRLOVFXVWRPHUVE\SD\LQJFORVHDWWHQWLRQWRHYROYLQJFXVWRPHU
needs and leveraging technology, especially to help drive our cusWRPHUSUR¿WDELOLW\FDSDELOLWLHV´VDLG*UHJ0RUULVVHQLRUYLFHSUHVLdent and president, Global Oilseeds, for Chicago, Illinois, U.S.-based
ADM. "We are pleased to have him now leading this business to
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oils team."

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