GA sells Gavilon stake to Japan’s Marubeni

Gavilon was also owned by hedge funds Ospraie Management and Soros Fund Management, which bought the trader together with GA for $2.8 billion in 2008. Back then it was the trading arm of US packaged foods company ConAgra Foods.

The investors drove growth at the firm through acquisitions such as US grain handler DeBruce, and investments.

The deal represents Marubeni's largest-ever acquisition, and puts faith in the theory that China will become a big importer of corn in the coming years. According to the US Department of Agriculture, China will import approximately 5 million tonnes of grain in the 2011-12 season.

Although the price placed on the trade buyer's equity stake is $3.6 billion, the company's $2 billion in debt takes this figure somewhat higher, making the transaction reportedly the largest overseas agriculture or energy acquisition by a Japanese business in the last six years.

Marubeni made another overseas investment earlier this year, in March. It acquired 50% of the share capital of British wind power engineering firm Seajacks International for around $850 million, while state-sponsored fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan acquired the other 50%. The transaction represented an exit for US private equity firm Riverstone Holdings.

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• Topics
• Exits
• North America
• Financials
• Agriculture
• Japan
• Trade sale
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)
• General Atlantic