Cargill Inc. makes another big move into Australia

Cargill Inc. said Monday that it plans to purchase Australia's largest malting business from Glencore International, the latest deal to expand its holdings in Australia.

The sale price of Joe White Maltings wasn't disclosed. The Wall Street Journal — citing unnamed sources — reported it as $373 million. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.

Minnetonka-based Cargill is a large global producer of barley malt for beer and other alcoholic drinks, but it does not have a presence in the Australian malting market.

Joe White Maltings has seven plants and supplies brewers in Australia and several Southeast Asian countries.

"The addition of Joe White Maltings will complete Cargill's global footprint in all key barley production areas and enable us to better serve our global and leading regional brewers," Doug Eden, president of Cargill's global malting business said in a statement.

Cargill, one of the world's largest privately held companies with interests in commodities from road salt to sugar, operates 10 malting plants in Europe and the Americas, including one each in Spiritwood, N.D. and Sheboygan, Wis.

Glencore, a global commodities giant akin to Cargill, had bought Joe White as part of its $6 billion purchase last year of Canada's Viterra Inc., a big grain company. Joe White, founded in 1858, reportedly has about $270 million in annual revenue.

In 2010, the firm announced that it would pay $800 million for the grain handling business of Australia's AWB Inc., a leading agribusiness company. Cargill picked up 22 grain storage sites across Australia and a 50 percent stake in a grain export terminal in Melbourne.

In 2011, Cargill formed a 50-50 joint venture with Teys Bros, Australia's second-biggest beef processor and exporter. The deal combined both companies' beef processing and cattle feeding businesses, as well as Teys tannery and other Teys ­facilities.