Bunge in Palm Oil JV

November 1/White Plains, N.Y./PRNewswire -- Bunge Agribusiness Singapore Pte. Ltd. announced it intends to form a joint venture with PT Bumiraya Investindo (BRI), the Indonesian palm plantation subsidiary of PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food Tbk (TPS Food).  This would be Bunge's first investment in the palm oil industry.

Under the terms of the agreement with TPS Food, Bunge Agribusiness Singapore Pte. Ltd would acquire a 35% minority stake in BRI.  The transaction is subject to approval by TPS Food shareholders and regulatory approvals in Indonesia.

Christopher White, CEO, Bunge Asia, stated, "Our investment in BRI represents a first step in building an upstream presence in palm oil.  It is a natural fit, through which we can leverage our core capabilities and experience in a complementary value chain that represents over 30% of the world's total vegetable oil production."

TPS Food, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, is a leading food company in Indonesia. In the last two years the company entered palm production as well as rice processing and distribution.

BRI owns land banks in Sumatra and Kalimantan and operates four plantations in Kalimantan.  It is also constructing a crude palm oil mill in Kalimantan.  Preliminary satellite analysis shows that BRI's land banks do not contain primary forest.

 From the November 2, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.