It’s
not saying how it found out, other than from “a person with knowledge of the
situation, asking not to be named discussing a private matter.”
Bunge,
based in White Plains, New York, has a market value of about $11.3 billion.
The
shares jumped as much as 17 percent Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal
reported Glencore’s approach.
Bunge
didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A Glencore official
declined to comment.
Last
month, Chris Mahoney, who runs Glencore’s agriculture unit, said in an
interview that the company was trying to expand in the U.S., the world’s
largest grain market.
"If
we could fill the gap and adhere to our returns threshold, we will do it, but
it’s proving not so easy," he said.
“We
have looked in the U.S., it’s no secret. There aren’t any willing sellers.”
Last
year Glencore was talking about selling its agriculture operations to reduce
its debts in the face of declining fortunes in mining.
It
bought Viterra, which rolled three Prairie wheat pools – the Saskatchewan,
Manitoba and Alberta wheat pools - into one company.
