April 2, 2012

EBRD purchases US$45 million stake in grain, oilseed firm

An equity stake worth US$45 million has been purchased by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in KazExportAstyk, the third-largest grain producer and biggest oilseed producer in Kazakhstan.

The EBRD said on Thursday (Mar 29) it would purchase newly issued share capital in privately owned KazExportAstyk in a deal that would help the Kazakh grain producer expand output and secure access to finance.

Astana-based KazExportAstyk operates its own grain terminals and flour mills and has long-term land-use agreements in Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy and grain supplier.

"To increase productivity, Kazakhstan needs more investment. This can mostly come from the private sector," EBRD President Thomas Mirow said in a statement. The bank did not specify the size of the stake it would own in KazExportAstyk.

Kazakhstan is among the world's top 10 wheat exporters and last year harvested a record post-Soviet grain crop of 27 million tonnes. The country plans to export around 15 million tonnes of grain in the current marketing year.

KazExportAstyk operates mainly in North Kazakhstan province, and the Akmola province around the capital, Astana. The company was established in 1999 and says that turnover in 2010 was US$305 million.

The company's assets include a grain terminal in the Ukrainian port of Kherson and the Kzyltusky Flour Mill in North Kazakhstan, Reuters states.