Cargill has agreed to sell its global malt business to France-based cereals cooperative Axéréal’s malt subsidiary, Boortmalt.
Cargill’s malt business serves the brewing, food, and beverage industries by originating and transforming malting barley into malt, and this transaction includes the entirety of Cargill Malt’s operations, including 15 facilities across four continents, which employ approximately 500 people.
Boortmalt supplies malt to brewers, distillers and micro-brewers, and the purchase will significantly expand Boortmalt’s global position in the malt market.
Boortmalt currently operates ten malting plants in Europe and produces and sells over a million tonnes of malt a year, using its strategic site in Antwerp, Belgium to export 50% of its total production to emerging markets.
The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, as well as the conclusion of consultation procedures with employee representative bodies.
The sale is expected to close in the second half of 2019.
A statement from Axéréal said that the acquisition: “would give Boortmalt access to a global footprint and offer further growth opportunities for Cargill’s Malt business and its people.”
