Bunge & Viterra Close Merger, Form Global Agribusiness Powerhouse

Bunge Global SA BG announced that it closed its previously stated merger with Viterra Limited. This combination forms a global agribusiness company, positioned to meet market demands and deliver enhanced value to farmers and customers worldwide.

Details on Bunge-Viterra Deal

The merger was announced in June 2023 and was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Bunge and Viterra. In October 2023, Bunge’s shareholders approved the merger. The shareholders had also approved the issuance of 65,611,831 common shares, par value of 1 cent per share of Bunge. 

The deal faced several setbacks, including regulatory challenges and concerns over competition in the global market, resulting in delays.

The merged entity will boast an enhanced global network with a diversified agriculture network covering all major crops. The combination of both companies’ highly complementary asset footprints and distribution networks will connect the world’s largest production regions to areas of the fastest-growing demand. This will enhance the geographical balance and adaptability of the global value chains. A diversified global mix of earnings across processing, handling and merchandising and value-added products will lead to solid cash flow generation.

Along with increasing operational efficiency, the combination will further enhance Bunge’s innovation know-how. This will equip the company to address the pressing needs of food security, efficiency for end-customers, market access for farmers and sustainable food, feed and renewable fuel production.

The combination is expected to benefit from significant incremental network synergies across joint commercial excellence opportunities, vertical integration efficiencies, and improved logistics optimization and trading optionality from a larger and broader network.

The merger is expected to lead to $250 million in annual gross pre-tax operational synergies in the first three years. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Bunge’s adjusted earnings per share in the first full year post closing. It is anticipated to improve with the realization of synergies.

BG Stock’s Price Performance

Shares of Bunge have lost 23.1% over the past year compared with the industry's 9.6% decline.

Bunge’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

BG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS, SSR Mining Inc. SSRM and ATI Inc. ATI. These three companies currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Carpenter Technology has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’ 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.20 per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 51.9%. Carpenter Technology shares have skyrocketed 111% last year.

SSR Mining has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 58.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SSRM’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.14 per share, implying year-over-year growth of 307%. SSR Mining stock has surged 88.6% last year.

ATI has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.54%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATI’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $3.01 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 22.4%. ATI shares have jumped 54% last year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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