M&A News: Canada Greenlights Crop Trader Bunge (NYSE:BG) and Viterra Merger 

Crop trader Bunge (BG) has won approval for its takeover of Dutch-headquartered Viterra, in a move that will create a $25 billion global agricultural business to take on some of the world’s largest players in the industry. 

Transport and internal trade minister Anita Anand finally gave the nod on Tuesday, January 14th, after a long regulatory approval process.

The merger with the Glencore (GB:GLEN)-backed Viterra better positions BG to take on the dominance of Cargill, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Louis Dreyfus. 

BG Faces Many T&Cs 

But Canadian authorities said approval for the tie-up comes with “extensive terms and conditions to protect competition.” It comes after Canada’s antitrust watchdog in April warned that the deal could cause significant harm to competition. 

So, to address competition concerns, the deal was cleared subject to BG divesting six grain elevators in Western Canada, to help maintain competitive options for farmers in the region; 

Canada also sought strict controls on the company’s minority ownership stake in G3, another important grain company, to ensure it cannot influence pricing or investment decisions made by G3. 

The deal, which was first announced in 2023, won approval from the European Union last year but is still pending approval by China’s competition authority.

“This is an important milestone in the process to complete the Bunge-Viterra transaction,” the company said in a statement seen by Bloomberg. “With the Canadian approval, we are nearing completion of the regulatory process and expect to close in early 2025.”

Is BG a Good Stock to Buy? 

Overall, Wall Street has a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BG stock, based on four Buys, three Holds and no Sells. The average BG price target of $103.14 implies 26% upside from current levels. Shares of BG have fallen 11% in the last 12 months.

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