Delo Group buys out Cargill, consolidates 100% of shares in Novorossiysk grain terminal
MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - The Delo group of companies has completed consolidating 100% of the shares in JSC KSK Grain Terminal, thereby closing the deal to buy out the stake of 25% plus one share in KSK, which is Russia's largest deep-sea terminal in terms of volumes of grain transshipment, the company said in a statement.
The transaction previously received all the required regulatory approvals.
"Consolidation of 100% of KSK shares is in line with Delo Group's development priorities, as the grain business is one of the Group's key businesses. The terminal established in Novorossiysk in 2006 became a leader in grain export transshipment volumes within a few years. Now we continue to implement projects to enlarge its capacity and plan to increase it to 10 million tonnes in the next few years," said Ekaterina Lyakhova, CEO of parent company Delo Management Company LLC.
The cost of the deal was not disclosed.
Delo Group CEO Sergey Shishkarev said in September last year that the Group could buy grain trader Cargill's 25% stake in the KSK Grain Terminal. "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.
Cargill, 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.
The Delo Group has been transshipping grain in Novorossiysk since 2006, when the KSK terminal was built from scratch. Its capacity is 8.5 million tonnes per year, and it can handle ships with capacity of 100,000 tonnes and draft of up to 14.4 meters. KSK has its own laboratory for grain quality control. Transshipment grew 37% in 2023 to 8.2 million tonnes.
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.