China’s COFCO buys rest of Nidera

China’s state-owned grain giant COFCO will buy out minority shareholders in Netherlands-based commodity trader Nidera and take full ownership of the company, it said, as it seeks to become an agribusiness powerhouse.

COFCO’s deal to buy out the remaining 49 percent of Nidera, which trades grains and soybeans among other agricultural commodities, comes two years after it bought just over half of the company for $1.2 billion.

It is the latest in a string of major overseas investments by Chinese companies seeking to meet rising demand for food and energy in the world’s second-largest economy.

The deal would give China greater control over pricing on the world’s grain markets, as well as better access to major grain-growing regions, such as Latin America and Russia. (AFP)