Geneva | Reuters — Grain trader Archer Daniels Midland does not expect to continue its aggressive strategy of acquisitions in the next few years and will instead focus on organic growth, a senior official said on Wednesday.
“With this level of acquisitions we have had, I don’t think you will see ADM being a very aggressive M+A investor over the next few years,” Ismael Roig, ADM’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) president, told the Global Grain conference in Geneva.
He said the company would instead focus on optimizing its business and driving efficiency, and look for opportunities in value-added sectors including nutrition.
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The firm has made $7 billion in acquisitions globally in recent years, including $5 billion in EMEA, Roig said (all figures US$).
ADM purchased natural food ingredients company Wild Flavors for $3 billion in 2014 and earlier this year it took over animal nutrition business Neovia for $1.7 billion as part of the U.S. farm giant’s strategy to expand in the fast-growing animal nutrition sector.
“There’s a significant amount of opportunity across all of the commodity streams at low level sophistications or high level sophistications to add a significant amount of margin and that’s how we are thinking about the strategy going forward,” he said.
— Reporting for Reuters by Sybille de la Hamaide and Emma Farge.
