(Bloomberg) -- Crop trader Bunge Global SA said its US$8.2 billion acquisition of Viterra Inc. will be delayed as the company is still awaiting regulatory approval from several governments including China, Canada and the European Union.
The St. Louis-based trader, which had set a goal to finalize the deal by mid-year, said the transaction would be completed in the next several months. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the deal faced a risk of being delayed.
The companies have the bulk of the approvals required, but they are “continuing to constructively engage with relevant authorities in the remaining jurisdictions,” Chief Executive Officer Greg Heckman said during an earnings call on Wednesday.
Heckman said he sees no issues that would be material to the economics of the deal.
The deal, announced in June last year, is being delayed by antitrust concerns. Bunge and Viterra offered concessions that will likely win a nod from the European bloc, while Canada’s antitrust watchdog has raised concerns about the deal.
China has yet to issue an opinion. While there’s no concern about business overlap there, the Asian nation is the world’s largest commodities buyer and top importer of soybeans.
If approved, the agreement would create a $25 billion behemoth capable of competing with the industry’s biggest players including Cargill Inc. and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.
Bunge is the “B” in the ABCD quartet of agricultural commodity traders that have dominated crop markets for over a century. ADM and Cargill are the “A” and the “C,” while Louis Dreyfus Co. represents the “D.”
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