Two of the country’s oldest agriculture companies, holdings of a global agriculture exchange traded fund (ETF), are joining forces.
Bunge Ltd. (BG) announced that it’s buying Corn Products International (CPO) for $4.4 billion, the Associated Press reports. The deal has been OK’d by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the fourth quarter if the shareholders and regulators approve it.
Both companies are components of the Market Vectors Global Agribusiness (MOO): Bunge is 4.6%, while Corn Products is 1.2%. Year-to-date, the fund is up 11.1%.
Commodity prices are higher than ever, and the recent flooding in the Midwest is about to have a major ripple effect. Beef, pork, poultry, eggs, cheese and milk are all about to get more expensive as livestock owners are forced out of business or forced to slaughter more cattle, hogs, turkeys and chickens to cope with the rising cost of corn-based animal feed.