MECAS(22)06 - Update to Foreign Direct Investment and Mergers & Acquisitions in the World Sugar Industry

This paper revisits the global landscape of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and foreign direct investment (FDI) activity in the world sugar industry, updating ISO studies released in 2016 and 2012, and extending the ISO’s long-term commitment to monitoring these activities since a first paper was written on cross-border investments in the world sugar industry in 2007. This study provides a comprehensive stocktake of global M&A/FDI activities since 2016, looking at drivers, key players, as well as details of transactions that have occurred.

The ISO’s 2016 study concluded that since 2011, falling world sugar prices and depressed margins had tended to stymie M&A/FDI activity. The period which followed, between 2016-2018, largely continued this trend with few exceptions. More recently, the period since 2020 has seen more activity, helped by a period of higher world sugar prices and improved margins. However, despite a recovery in world sugar prices, the global economy entered a period of pronounced uncertainty, added to by the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent inflationary pressures, as well as energy and security concerns.

In Brazil, a consolidation movement, largely driven by local companies, is gaining momentum. The focus for now remains on optimising the existing industry, rather than engaging in new-built or greenfield operations. In Europe, with the end of the production quota regime, operational capacities have had to be restructured and optimised resulting in a number of sugar plant closures. In Africa, M&A hit a hiatus, with major drivers being Ethiopia’s privatisation and Egypt’s quest for self-sufficiency. In Asia and Oceania, capacity growth has also been limited. A significant focus has also been on divestments, with a number of sales and closures identified.

The long period of low world sugar prices, prior to 2020, also prompted divestment and a reorganization of priorities among multinational traders. Significant activity has occurred within the sugar marketing and distribution space, with developments altering the concentration of the world sugar trade.

Contents:

Introduction										

1	Overview										
	
2	Cane Sugar Companies							
             BP Bunge Bioenergia							
             Companhia Mineira de Açúcar e Álcool (CMAA)  			
             Compañia Azucarera Los Balcanes					
             Ipiranga Agroindustrial Group					
             Jalles Machado SA							
             Mitr Phol Group								
             Pantaleón Group								
             Pedra Agroindustrial							
             Raízen SA				 					
             São Martinho SA								
             Universal Robina Corporation						
             Usina Batatais								
             US Sugar									

3	Beet Sugar Companies							
             AB Sugar									
             Cristal Union Group							
             Nordzucker AG								
             Michigan Sugar Company						
             Mitsui / Dai-Nippon Meiji / Nippon Beet				
             Pfeifer & Langen								
             Tereos Group								

4	Refiners and Other Companies		  		
             Albioma									
             Alteo Agri Limited							
             FKS Group									
             Lone Star Funds								
             Magister Investments (Mauritius)					
             MSM Malaysia Holdings Berhad					

5	Trade House Activity							
             Archer Daniels Midland							
             Bunge									
             Cargill									
             Louis Dreyfus Company							
             Czarnikow									
             ED&F Man									
             Olam International							
             RCMA Group								

6	Divestments								
             AB Sugar									
             Astarta-Kyiv								
             Biosev SA									
             Bundaberg Sugar Limited						
             Cristal Union Group							
             Hrvatska Industrija Secera (HIS)					
             Fiji Sugar Corporation							
             Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company				
             Hellenic Sugar								
             J Wray & Nephew Limited						
             Mackay Sugar Limited							
             Mawana Sugars								
             Medine Group								
             MSF Sugar									
             Petrobrás Biocombustível						
             Pfeifer & Langen								
             Raízen SA									
             São Martinho SA / Cosan					
             Seprod Group								
             Südzucker AG								
             Tongaat Hulett								
             Usina Santa Adélia							
             Viet Nam Sugarcane and Sugar Corporation   			
             VIRO Secerana Virovitica						

7	Sugar Marketing/Distribution					
             Cargill									
             Copersucar									
             RAW - Raízen/Wilmar							
             Südzucker / ED&F Man							
             Tereos Commodities							

Conclusions 									
																	
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