ALLIANCE Grain Traders Inc has bought Balco Group's grain business in a deal worth $9.4 million.
AGTI, one of the world's largest crop exporters, said the further investment in Australia allows it to establish a significant foothold in South Australia, The Advertiser in Adelaide reports.
The $9.2 million acquisition of Balco Grain Services - a joint venture between Balco and growers in the mid-north region - includes property from Balco Holdings, storage for pulses and grains, handling equipment and planned expansions and improvements.
The Balco facility at Bowmans, 90km from Adelaide, is adjacent to SA's first inland container terminal, which ships about 2000 containers a month.
The rebranded company and facility will be owned and operated by AGTI's wholly owned subsidiary, Australia Milling Group, which also owns large export operations in Horsham, Victoria.
South Australia is a more reliable area for pulse production than Victoria and this acquisition will help us create a main processing base for exports, AGTI's chief executive Murad Al-Katib told The Advertiser.
"This acquisition is an excellent platform for our expansion here. South Australia and the Yorke Peninsula region are generally very reliable production areas for pulses... The distance between our plant in Victoria and Balco will give AGTI good diversification of our drawing areas and production bases in Australia."
For more read The Advertiser.
