AMSTERDAM, July 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The
European Commission has granted conditional clearance for
Cargill to acquire Archer Daniels
Midland's (NYSE: ADM) chocolate business in Europe. Together with the approvals granted
earlier by the US Department of Justice, this completes the
regulatory approval process for the global deal.
"The acquisition underlines Cargill's commitment to meeting our customers'
needs and constitutes a milestone for our chocolate growth
strategy, strengthening our position as a leading player in the
cocoa and chocolate industry," says Bryan
Wurscher, president Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate North
America. "The new organisation will deepen our service to chocolate
customers and expand our footprint and production capability
significantly. Customers will benefit from a combined business with
a broad range of high quality cocoa and chocolate products for
confectionery, bakery, dairy, and other applications."
"We are looking forward to bringing together people with a deep
passion, experience and commitment to producing excellent chocolate
in our extended chocolate operations," says Jos de Loor, president
of Cargill's cocoa and chocolate
business EMEA and Asia. "Growing
our business goes hand in hand with our commitment to securing the
long-term viability of a strong and sustainable cocoa bean supply
chain. With the Cargill Cocoa Promise, we are supporting progress
towards a transparent cocoa supply chain, enabling farmers to
achieve better livelihoods and delivering a sustainable supply of
cocoa and chocolate products to meet the growing demands from
customers."
After closing of the transaction, three chocolate, compound and
liquor production sites in North
America - Milwaukee (Wis.),
Hazleton (Penn.) and Georgetown
(Ontario) and three chocolate and
compound production sites in Europe - Liverpool (U.K.), Manage (Belgium) and Mannheim (Germany) and more than 650 employees will
transfer to Cargill. And the
Ambrosia®, Merckens® and Schokinag® brands will join Cargill's existing portfolio of high quality
chocolate brands.
Addressing the European Commission's competition concerns,
Cargill has agreed to divest ADM's
industrial chocolate production facility in Mannheim, Germany. The facility will be kept as a
separate entity with its own interim management until an agreement
with a prospective buyer has been made.
About Cargill
Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial
products and services to the world. Together with farmers,
customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by
applying our insights and 150 years of experience. We have 152,000
employees in 67 countries who are committed to feeding the world in
a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the
communities where we live and work.
About Cargill's global cocoa
and chocolate business
Cargill's cocoa and chocolate
business offers the food industry a wide range of both standard and
customised cocoa and chocolate ingredients for use in delicious
bakery, confectionery and dairy applications all over the world.
The company's product range includes high quality Gerkens® cocoa
powders, chocolate, coatings, fillings, cocoa liquors and cocoa
butters. With years of experience in technical food expertise
Cargill supports its customers in
new recipes and new product development.
Cargill's processing plants in
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cote
d'Ivoire, France,
Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, the
Netherlands, UK and the USA
are in full compliance with the highest food safety
standards.
To secure a good quality and sustainable supply of cocoa beans,
Cargill has its own cocoa bean
sourcing operations for buying, handling and exporting of cocoa
beans in Brazil, Cameroon, Cote
d'Ivoire and Indonesia.
Presence in all the leading producing countries allows Cargill to oversee the supply chain from beans
at origin to cocoa and chocolate products on its customers'
doorsteps. In addition, extensive market research and analysis
proves to be a source of valuable information to customers.
More information is available at
www.cargillcocoachocolate.com/
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SOURCE Cargill