The biggest losers in Japanese trading house Marubeni’s $5.6 billion deal to buy Gavilon may not be the quartet of huge Western traders who have long dominated the global grain markets, such as Cargill.
Instead, it is the Asian trading houses like Noble and Olam International who do not own assets such as grain elevators in North America that will come under even greater pressure to establish a foothold in the world’s biggest supplier, ensuring reliable access to crops needed to meet rising Chinese demand.
But after Marubeni’s deal and Glencore’s $6 billion purchase of Canada’s leading handler Viterra, many are wary of wading too deeply into the fray.
Asian grain houses without physical assets in North America lost another potential partner in deals to feed China earlier this month when CHS Inc, the biggest farm cooperative in the United States, launched a joint venture with Japanese cooperative Zen-Noh.
The transactions have reignited talk that privately held Louis Dreyfus may be the next company to strike a deal or be sold, traders said.