Mitsui buying 10% of Sodrugestvo, plans to export grain from Russia
MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - Mitsui & Co. has signed a contract to buy 10% of Sodrugestvo, and has agreed to form a strategic alliance with the Russian agribusiness group in grain exports, the Japanese company said in a press release.
The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Sodrugestvo processes oilseeds, and owns a production facility in the Kaliningrad Region, and plants in Brazil and Europe. The group also owns warehouses, trade terminals and tugboats in the Baltic Sea.
Sodrugestvo will begin full-scale grain exports to Europe, Africa and the Middle East in the fall, and Mitsui plans to participate in export operations, the Japanese company said.
Mitsui is also interested in Sodrugestvo's livestock farming and feed production businesses.
Mitsui & Co. produces and processes oil and gas and mineral resources, and produces steel products and equipment. The company also owns assets in the agribusiness sector and ships grain on the markets of North and South America and Australia.
Sodrugestvo, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, has branches in Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Brazil, the United States, Switzerland and a number of Eastern European countries.
The group had consolidated sales of $1.312 billion in the financial year ended June 30, 2011.
