May 14, 2021

Argentine soy crusher Vicentin to sell majority stake

Major Argentine soy crusher Vicentin has begun talks to sell a majority stake to export companies Viterra, Molinos Agro and Argentine cooperative ACA, Reuters reported.

Vicentin was Argentina's top exporter of soymeal, but fell into bankruptcy in 2019.

In a statement, the company said a majority group of shareholders have agreed to begin talks with the three companies to possible acquire a majority stake in Vicentin.

The Argentine government had proposed to take over Vicentin in 2020, but the plan was scrapped following protests from the domestic agriculture industry,

Viterra is a unit of Glencore Agriculture and owns 67% of soy crushing facility Renova. Renova is one of the biggest soymeal and soyoil plants in the world. The remaining ownership of Renova belongs to Vicentin.

Vicentin is also looking to sell its San Lorenzo plant. The plant has a annual crushing capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of soybeans.

- Reuters