The federal government’s Competition Bureau is withholding approval of an $8.2-billion merger between Viterra and Bunge.
But the companies believe they can gain approval because they say the concerns focus on ”localized concerns relating to the purchase of canola in the Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Altona, Manitoba areas, and related to canola oil sales to a small segment of customers in Eastern Canada.”
Viterra is a merger among the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba wheat pools and it bought more grain-handling businesses in the United States. Bunge is one of the world’s largest grain-trading companies and is also a major oilseed crushing business.
The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board owns 40 per cent of Viterra and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is the other major owner.
Glencore paid $6.2 billion to buy Viterra in 2012 and took the Viterra name in 2020, then sold to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Fun and BCI.
