Delo Group could acquire Cargill stake in KSK grain terminal - Shishkarev
VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 13 (Interfax) - Delo Group could buy out grain trader Cargill's stake (25% plus one share) in the KSK grain terminal in Novorossiysk, CEO Sergey Shishkarev said during a briefing at the Eastern Economic Forum.
"The documents are with the government commission. Everything has been looked at, all procedures have been agreed upon, negotiations have been held. The documents are in the government commission on foreign investment. We hope that the decision will be made, we will make settlements and formalize it," Shishkarev said.
"It all depends on how soon they will meet and consider it. Maybe it will take a week, maybe a month. No more than that, probably," he said when asked about the timing of the deal's closing.
Shishkarev did not comment on the details of the arrangements, noting that it was a "monetary" deal.
U.S. company Gargill, one of the world's leading grain traders and producers of processed grain products, bought 25% plus one share of the KSK terminal from DeloPorts (part of Delo Group) in 2013.
Delo Group manages sea container terminals in the Azov-Black Sea, Baltic and Far East basins, a network of railroad container terminals, as well as a fleet of containers and fitting platforms. Sergey Shishkarev, the founder of the holding, has a 51% stake in it, with another 49% held by the Rosatom state corporation.
The transportation and logistics business of Delo Group includes the intermodal container operator TransContainer and the multimodal transportation operator Ruscon. The stevedoring business includes DeloPorts Holding and Global Ports, a leading container terminal operator.
Cargill has been operating in Russia since 1991 and was among the leading exporters of Russian grain. On July 1, 2023, the company ceased export operations in the Russian grain market. In March last year, it announced the termination of its investments in the Russian business.
In addition to its stake in the KSK grain terminal, Cargill owns an oil extraction plant in the Volgograd region, starch production in the Tula region and animal feed production in the Rostov region. These enterprises continue to operate.
In 2022, the revenue of Cargill's Russian subsidiary amounted to 129.2 billion rubles, up 9.7% from 2021. This was the highest indicator in the time of the company's operations in Russia. Net profit increased 1.7 times to 7.43 billion rubles from 4.27 billion rubles, while profit from sales increased 1.9 times to 11.4 billion rubles from 6.1 billion rubles, respectively.