Bunge takeover rumours intensify as managers pick up more stock

Rumours surrounding Bunge’s potential takeover have intensified as senior officers were issued with stock worth $3.2 million between February 28-March 1, SEC filings showed Friday.

The filings show eight executives awarded more than 42,000 shares, as well as seven being issued options worth $18.3 million exercisable from February 2019.

There were also stock disposal worth just over $1 million.

The move is the latest sign of an impending deal to acquire Bunge, with senior management having previously upped the pay-out for executives who lose their job as the result of a takeover.

Rumours

The filings come as the UK’s Sunday Times reported potential suitor Archer Daniels Midland is courting an unnamed Asian firm in a bid to avoid US anti-trust regulation which could scupper any takeover attempt.

Glencore, ADM’s apparent rival in the bid to acquire Bunge, is thought to remain in the race despite having a previous offer rebuffed.

Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore’s CEO, told investors in February it was keen to “bolt on acquisitions” in areas where it already operated.

And Glencore Agriculture CEO Chris Mahoney previously said the industry “could benefit from more consolidation” and added that the firm would not grow organically in the US, where it has limited operations.

Bunge, one of the world’s largest agricultural trading firms, is the “B” in the so-called “ABCD” firms which dominate the industry alongside Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus.