OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2011. Sodrugestvo Group has acquired 100% of Liders Armazens Gerais S.A. Lider, the largest Brazilian private company engaged in the storage and transshipment of grains, owns 15 warehouses located in Brazil fastest growing agricultural regions. All warehouses are leased to leading agricultural companies, including Sodrugestvo, through exclusive long-term agreements. Lider also owns and operates for Vale two transshipment terminals in Minas Gerais and Tocantins, reported the press-centre of Sodrugestvo.

 “The acquisition of Lider allows us to increase our static storage capacity from the existing 600,000 tons to almost 900,000 tons in the States of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goias. This capacity increase will allow us to provide an even better service to Brazilian agricultural operators in these key regions. We will also continue to invest heavily in coordination with Vale to make sure that our new transshipment facilities offer the best possible value to all market participants, while the ever increasing crops create more and more challenges to bring grains to ports.”

Sodrugestvo was advised for the transaction by Machado Meyer. The acquisition was entirely financed by Sodrugestvo’s own fund, without recourse to debt.

The Lider operation will be integrated into Carol-Sodru S.A., the joint-venture between Sodrugestvo and CAROL, that already operates 14 in the States of Sao Paulo, Goias, Minas Gerais.

About Sodrugestvo Group
 Sodrugestvo Group (www.sodrugestvo.com), founded in 1994, is a rapidly growing agro-industrial company serving global markets. The company is vertically integrated with three business units - specialized infrastructure (including deep-water sea ports), logistics (including railcars and storage facilities) and processing facilities (for the production of proteins and oils from vegetal and animal commodities). In the past year, Sodrugestvo crushed more than 1.3 million tons of soybeans and rapeseed, making it a leading player in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, and traded over 2.3 million tons of agricultural commodities. The company is also expanding into commodities trading and direct origination capabilities.

Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company has facilities in a dozen countries including Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Brazil, the United States, Switzerland and several Eastern European nations.  With consolidated sales of USD 1,312 million in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, Sodrugestvo has enjoyed average annual growth of 15 percent or more for the last 10 years. Sodrugestvo employs 1,350 and is privately held.