Louis Dreyfus Company to sell Imperial Sugar to US Sugar

Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has agreed to sell the business and assets of Imperial Sugar Company to Florida-based agribusiness US Sugar.

Imperial Sugar operates a refinery at Port Wentworth in Savannah, Georgia, and a sugar transfer and liquification facility in Ludlow, Kentucky. The transaction also includes the company’s consumer brands, which are mainly sold across the southern US.

Imperial Sugar – which primarily sources raw cane sugar from Central and South America, and the Caribbean – was bought by Louis Dreyfus in 2012.

Following the sale, LDC will continue to operate in North America across a number of different business areas, including exporting cotton, soybeans, wheat and corn from the US.

“Imperial Sugar has a strong company heritage and looks forward to joining the US Sugar family,” said Mike Gorrell, president and CEO, Imperial Sugar.

“I am confident that the move will create production, logistics and supply chain synergies and efficiencies that will benefit both companies and our customers, as we continue to bring them the quality products and brands they know and expect.”

Enrico Biancheri, global head of LDC’s sugar platform, said: “For LDC, this strategic decision does not impact our broader sugar merchandising business, to which we remain fully committed, and enables us to refocus resources on growing this core business, building on our strong global position.”

The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Last year, LDC and China-based coffee chain operator Luckin Coffee began construction of a joint venture coffee roasting plant in Xiamen, China.