Bunge and Wilmar to Form Joint Venture in Vietnam

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. and SINGAPORE, July 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) ("Bunge") and Wilmar International Limited (SGX: F34) ("Wilmar") announced today they are forming a joint venture in Vietnam to leverage both companies' footprints in Asia.

Bunge will sell 45% of its equity in its Vietnam crush operations to Wilmar, creating a three-party joint venture with Bunge and Wilmar as equal 45% shareholders and Quang Dung – a leading soybean meal distributor in Vietnam and majority owner of Green Feed, a growing Vietnamese feed milling business – retaining its existing 10% stake in the operations.  

The transaction establishes a strategic collaboration between three uniquely positioned leaders in the Vietnamese oil and feed markets, unlocking growth potential by connecting Bunge's upstream crushing capabilities to Wilmar's downstream oil refining and consumer products business, and to Green Feed's feed milling and marketing activities. The joint venture creates integrated operations that are both a source and sales outlet for oil in Vietnam – one of the fastest-growing domestic edible oils markets in Asia – and that enable increased participation in the domestic feed milling industry.

"Bunge is excited to partner with Wilmar, the largest downstream edible oils player in Vietnam," said Soren Schroder, CEO, Bunge Limited. "The collaboration will create increased operating, marketing and logistics synergies across the Vietnam oils and soybean meal value chains, and help us remain a low-cost operator with the highest efficiency possible."

"Bunge is a natural partner for us. In Vietnam, it is the largest producer of soybean oil and Wilmar is a major buyer of soybean oil," said Kuok Khoon Hong, Chairman and CEO of Wilmar. "The soybean meal distribution capabilities of the joint venture also complement Wilmar's animal feed ingredients business in Vietnam, including rice bran, wheat bran, palm kernel expeller, copra expeller, canola meal and feed oils."

About Bunge Limited
Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com, NYSE: BG) is a leading global agribusiness and food company operating in over 40 countries with approximately 35,000 employees.  Bunge buys, sells, stores and transports oilseeds and grains to serve customers worldwide; processes oilseeds to make protein meal for animal feed and edible oil products for commercial customers and consumers; produces sugar and ethanol from sugarcane; mills wheat, corn and rice to make ingredients used by food companies; and sells fertilizer in South America.  Founded in 1818, the company is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

About Wilmar International Limited
Wilmar International Limited, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Singapore, is today Asia's leading agribusiness group. Wilmar is ranked amongst the largest listed companies by market capitalisation on the Singapore Exchange.

Wilmar's business activities include oil palm cultivation, oilseed crushing, edible oils refining, sugar milling and refining, specialty fats, oleochemicals, biodiesel and fertiliser manufacturing as well as rice and flour milling. At the core of Wilmar's strategy is an integrated agribusiness model that encompasses the entire value chain of the agricultural commodity business, from cultivation, processing, merchandising to manufacturing of a wide range of branded agricultural products. It has over 500 manufacturing plants and an extensive distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia and some 50 other countries. The Group has a multinational workforce of about 92,000 people.

Wilmar's portfolio of high quality processed agricultural products is the preferred choice of consumers and the food manufacturing industry. Its consumer-packed products have a leading share in many Asian and African countries. Through scale, integration and the logistical advantages of its business model, Wilmar is able to extract margins at every step of the value chain, thereby reaping operational synergies and cost efficiencies. Wilmar is a firm advocate of sustainable growth and is committed to its role as a responsible corporate citizen.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. We have tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words including "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "continue" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The following important factors, among others, could affect our business and financial performance: industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and products used in our business; fluctuations in energy and freight costs and competitive developments in our industries; the effects of weather conditions and the outbreak of crop and animal disease on our business; global and regional agricultural, economic, financial and commodities market, political, social and health conditions; the outcome of pending regulatory and legal proceedings; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances; our ability to achieve the efficiencies, savings and other benefits anticipated from our cost reduction, margin improvement and other business optimization initiatives; changes in government policies, laws and regulations affecting our business, including agricultural and trade policies, tax regulations and biofuels legislation; and other factors affecting our business generally. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and except as otherwise required by federal securities law, we do not have any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Bunge Limited

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