Macquarie, a Australia based provider of provider of financial services, has acquired a 42.5% stake in the UK-based sugar merchant, Czarnikow Group, from Wilmar International.
Czarnikow Group CEO Robin Cave said the company has achieved a balanced shareholding structure with the necessary expertise and flexibility to achieve future growth.
"We are confident that the new shareholding structure will support the future growth of Czarnikow, for the benefit of our clients and employees," Cave added.
Macquarie Metals & Agricultural Sales and Trading division head Sebastian Barrack said the company has been actively involved in agricultural commodity markets for more than twenty years.
"We are a global leader in trading and price risk management of sugar and have a deep understanding of the dynamics of the market," Barrack added.
The transaction is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2012.
Macquarie is unlikely to obtain a 100% holding in Czarnikow, as the remainder of the company is held by British Sugar, a unit of Associated British Foods which owns 42.5%, and an employee trust with 15 %, as reported by Financial Times.