Bunge Announces Leadership Changes in Canada

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), today announced a leadership transition for its Canadian operations.  Richard "Rick" A. Watson, who has served as country manager since 2008, will retire effective March 31, 2013.  With this change, Karl Gerrand will join Bunge from Viterra, Inc., as managing director, Canada.

"During his 38-year career, Rick has helped Canada's oilseed industry grow from a small domestic business to a global powerhouse," said Soren Schroder, president and CEO, Bunge North America.  "We appreciate the many contributions Rick made as he helped expand Bunge's business in Canada and we wish him all the best in retirement."

Gerrand joins Bunge from Viterra, Inc., where he worked for eight years, most recently as chief operating officer of global processing operations.  He was responsible for 34 manufacturing facilities with 1200 employees around the world that crushed oilseeds and produced feed ingredients, milled wheat, durum and oats, and manufactured malt and pasta.  Prior to joining Viterra, Gerrand also served as co-founder and president of Can-Oat Milling, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. 

"We are pleased to have an experienced leader like Karl join the Bunge team," said Schroder.  "With his track record of delivering strong results, Karl is the right choice to drive Bunge's growth plans for our Canadian operations."

Gerrand is active in industry associations, having served on the board of directors and on the executive committee of the North American Millers Association.  He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Manitoba.

About Bunge North America
Bunge North America (www.bungenorthamerica.com), the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), is a vertically integrated food and feed ingredient company, supplying raw and processed agricultural commodities and specialized food ingredients to a wide range of customers in the livestock, poultry, food processor, foodservice and bakery industries.  With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge North America and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and packaging facilities, and corn dry mills in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

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.

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 North America