Archer Daniels Acquires Alimenta - Analyst Blog

Through the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Alimenta (USA), Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) will now have 100% stake in Golden Peanut Company. Alimenta is Archer Daniels' 50% partner in Golden Peanut Company.

Archer Daniels acquired Alimenta (USA), Inc. from Geneva based Alimenta S.A., an international trading company.

The company's net sales in the fiscal first quarter increased 12.6% year over year as well as surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. A solid performance at Oilseeds Processing resulted in the beat. The addition of Golden Peanut to the company's portfolio will further augment the company's results going forward.

Golden Peanut has a solid asset base with strong customer relationships and an experienced administrative team, which will help the company to post better results. Archer Daniels expects the acquisition to add synergies when combined with its present operations.

Archer Daniels is also in talks with Carolina Soya to acquire Carolina Soya's Estill assets.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2011 is 78 cents per share. For fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are a respective $2.94 per share and $3.25 per share.

We maintain our “Neutral” recommendation on Archer Daniels Midland Co. The quantitative Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating) for the company indicates no clear directional pressure on the shares over the near term.

Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., Golden Peanut Company is the largest U.S. handler, processor and exporter of peanuts, peanut oil and peanut-derived ingredients. Golden Peanut is also the leading peanut sheller and leading peanut oil refiner in the United States. The company has seven handling facilities in the United States and one in Argentina.

Bunge Ltd. (BG), a head-on competitor of Archer Daniels, also completed the acquisition of the rice milling business of Pacific International Rice Mills, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.  

Based in Decatur, Illinois, Archer Daniels Midland Co. is one of the leading food processing companies in the world.

 
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