Cargill Plans to Acquire Provimi to Create Global Leader in Animal Nutrition

MINNEAPOLIS, August 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Cargill has made a binding offer to acquire Provimi, the global animal nutrition company, for an enterprise value of €1.5 billion from Permira funds, the private equity firm which owns Provimi. Provimi has agreed, on an exclusive basis, to commence the necessary Works Council consultations and appropriate regulatory approvals.

Cargill plans to acquire Provimi's worldwide animal nutrition business, which has operations in 26 countries and employs more than 7,000 people across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. The acquisition would strengthen and expand Cargill's existing operations creating a global leader in animal nutrition.

"The combination of Cargill and Provimi would create a new, world class animal nutrition offering with the expertise to offer customers a full range of enhanced products and services," says Paul Conway, Cargill vice chairman. "This acquisition would mark a significant step in Cargill's animal nutrition growth strategy and underlines our commitment to continued long term investment to meet the needs of our customers around the world. We look forward to working with Provimi."

Cargill and Provimi have complementary market positions and strengths. Provimi has broad nutritional expertise, and a wide portfolio of premix, additives and ingredients; Cargill's animal nutrition business brings expertise in compound feed, supply chain and risk management as well as access to global trends, knowledge and information from across the agricultural supply chain. The combination of the businesses would provide an increased range of capabilities and a global network to service customers.

"Bringing together the talents and expertise of both companies is expected to open up new innovation and market development opportunities", comments Todd Hall, Cargill corporate vice president. "Provimi's excellence in cutting edge technology and application, alongside Cargill's global supply chain and market insights should enable us together to develop and deliver a range of innovative, high quality products and services to customers."

Ton van der Laan, chairman and group chief executive officer of Provimi says: "Cargill provided a clear and compelling case to become our new owner and we believe that a combination of its animal nutrition business with Provimi will create a stronger business, improving the delivery of innovative nutritional solutions to our customers. With Cargill's global presence and committed focus on animal nutrition, we can take Provimi to the next stage of its development. For our people this is also a great outcome. Cargill can offer many opportunities and recognizes the talent within Provimi. We very much look forward to working with our new owners in the future."

Cargill has a long history in the animal nutrition business, dating back to feed sales in 1884. The company currently has animal feed operations in 26 countries worldwide offering both branded and customized feed products and services, as well as ingredients for feed manufacturers and retailers.

Notes for editors:

About Cargill:

Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services.  Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 130,000 people in 63 countries.  Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to applying its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business.  For more information visit: http://www.cargill.com.

About Provimi:

The Provimi Group is active worldwide in several types of animal nutrition and is a leader in all markets where it is present. It employs about 7,000 people and had annual sales of € 1.6 billion in 2010. Provimi has 67 production centres in 26 countries and exports to over 100. Provimi manufactures products and supplies technical support for various species, predominantly ruminants, poultry and swine. For more information visit: http://www.provimi.com

About Permira:

Permira is a European private equity firm with global reach. The Permira funds, raised from pension funds and other institutions, make long-term investments in companies with the ambition of transforming their performance and driving sustainable growth.

Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €20 billion. Over the past 26 years the Permira funds have made nearly 200 private equity investments with a focus on driving transformation to build better businesses. Since 2000 the funds have returned approximately €14bn in cash to their investors.

Permira specialises in investing in five key sectors: Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials and TMT. The Permira funds' portfolio currently comprises 23 companies.  

Permira is independently owned by over 30 partners. Led by Co-Managing Partners Kurt Björklund and Tom Lister, the firm employs approximately 130 professionals. Today the firm's teams are based in Frankfurt, Guernsey, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Menlo Park, Milan, New York, Paris, Stockholm and Tokyo. Permira endorses the ILPA Private Equity Principles.

For more information visit:  http://www.permira.com

CONTACT:       
Steven Fairbairn: +44-1932-861174
Steven_Fairbairn@Cargill.com 
Timothy Loesch: +1-952-742-6910
Timothy_Loesch@cargill.com