GrainCorp is brewing

GRAINCORP’S plans to demerge its global malting business and list the new company on the ASX have been greeted warmly by investors.

The spin-off would create MaltCo, a global malting and craft brewing distribution business, while GrainCorp will continue to focus on domestic and international grain handling, storage, trading and processing.

GrainCorp’s malt business has grown to represent nearly 60 per cent of the company’s annual earnings since its acquisition in 2009, underpinned by the doubling of craft beer’s share of the US beer market over the past five years.