South Korea Clears ADM Acquisition of GrainCorp

08 Aug 2013 --- The Korea Fair Trade Commission has notified Archer Daniels Midland Company of its approval of ADM’s proposed acquisition of GrainCorp Limited. This brings the number of government agencies that have cleared the acquisition to seven.

The European Commission, the Japan Fair Trade Commission, South Africa’s Competition Commission and Canada’s Competition Bureau cleared the acquisition in July; the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission did so in June. The United States Federal Trade Commission also approved the acquisition last November. ADM continues to work with regulators in Australia and China.

The takeover is on track to close by the end of the year, ADM Chief Executive Officer Patricia Woertz said on a conference call on Tuesday after the company issued quarterly earnings.

In a sign of China's growing scrutiny of global M&A deals, GrainCorp and ADM tailored their agreement to include an extra payment for shareholders from October to reflect an expected delay in approval from China's Ministry of Commerce.

GrainCorp has an edible oils facility in China.