Cofco, the state-backed Chinese food group, yesterday took a step towards becoming one of the leading agricultural traders by outlining an agreement to secure full ownership of Nidera, the Dutch grain dealer.

拥有国家背景的中粮集团(Cofco)昨日宣布将获得荷兰谷物经销商Nidera全部股权，向成为领先农业贸易商又迈出一步。

The deal to buy the 49 per cent of Nidera that it does not already own will expand Cofco’s reach further into Europe and Latin America, as China attempts to build an agricultural trader that can fully compete with western rivals led by Cargill of the US.

该协议将收购中粮尚未持有的Nidera 49%剩余股权，让中粮的业务范围进一步扩展至欧洲和拉丁美洲。中国试图打造一家农业贸易商，可以与美国嘉吉(Cargill)为首的西方对手全面抗衡。

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

该交易条款尚未公开。

Cofco plans to use the acquisition to kick-start proposals to merge its various units into a structure that more closely resembles the leading western agricultural traders — Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus — although it will retain a focus on supplying food for China’s fast-growing population.

中粮计划利用这笔收购来启动整合计划，将旗下各部门合并成一个更接近西方领先农业贸易商——阿彻丹尼尔斯米德兰(Archer Daniels Midland，ADM)、邦吉(Bunge)、嘉吉和路易达孚(Louis Dreyfus)——的组织，尽管它仍将专注于为中国快速增长的人口供应粮食。

Matt Jansen, the head of the Cofco investment and trading divisions, who previously worked for ADM, said the Chinese company had to “change in order to improve”, describing the Nidera acquisition as key to its plans.

曾效力于ADM，现为中粮投资和贸易部门负责人的马特•詹森(Matt Jansen)表示，这家中国公司不得不“为了改进而改变”，他称收购Nidera对其计划至关重要。

“In this instance, we are going beyond incremental improvements — this is a transformative deal that will help us evolve and thrive over the long-term,” he added.

他表示：“在这种情况下，我们将超越渐进式改进，这是一场变革性的交易，将有助于我们的长期发展和繁荣。”

“Our combination enlarges the playing field and opens up new opportunities that were previously closed to us.”

“我们的结合扩大了公平竞争的环境，开启了此前对我们关闭的新商机。”

In March, Cofco secured full ownership of its agricultural joint venture with Hong Kong’s Noble Group, paying $750m for the 49 per cent it did not already own.

今年3月，中粮获得了其与香港来宝集团(Noble Group)的农业合资企业的全部股权，以7.5亿美元收购了剩余49%的股份。

Cofco first bought 51 per cent of Nidera two years ago. It is buying the remaining 49 per cent from Nidera’s founding shareholders.

中粮于两年前首次收购了Nidera 51%的股份，这次将从Nidera的创始股东处收购剩余的49%的股份。

With Glencore, the Swiss-based miner cum trader, also expanding rapidly in food in recent years, there is now arguably a “big six” agricultural traders, although Cofco is the only state-backed company in that group.

随着瑞士矿企和贸易商嘉能可(Glencore)近年在食品领域快速扩张，现在可以说有“六大”农业贸易商，尽管中粮是其中唯一有国家背景的公司。

Cofco’s expansion comes during challenging times for these traders, which have largely reported lower profits in the wake of falling crop prices.

中粮扩张之时，这些贸易商正处于挑战性时期，由于农作物价格下跌，上述企业大多报告盈利下降。

Mr Jansen, who was hired by Cofco to run the joint venture with Noble last year, has changed the focus of that business from trading to more processing, notably of grains and oilseeds, and is looking to invest in more assets, especially in North America.

去年中粮聘请詹森执掌其与来宝的合资企业，他已将业务重点从交易更多地向加工转变，尤其是谷物和油籽，同时寻求投资更多资产，尤其是在北美地区。