CCI approves COFCO's 51 pc stake buy in Noble Agri

Fair trade regulator CCI has approved agriculture firm COFCO (Hong Kong) Ltd's proposed acquisition of majority stake in Bermuda-based Noble Agri Ltd, saying the deal does not raise any competition concerns.
The proposed deal relates to acquisition of 51 per cent of the equity share capital of Noble Agri by COFCO.
In India, COFCO is into trading of non-agricultural commodities such as malt, citric and lactic acids, while Noble Agri is engaged in the business of grains, oilseeds, vegetable oils and sugar, among others.
In an order released today, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said: "The proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".

The Commission of India observed that in India, COFCO is mainly engaged in trading of certain non-agri commodities whereas Noble Agri is in the business of agri-commodities.
"There is no horizontal overlap between COFCO and NAL in India to raise any competition concern," the CCI said.
COFCO (Hong Kong) is a subsidiary of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp (COFCO) based in People's Republic of China and Noble Agri is part of Noble Group Ltd.
COFCO had entered into a deal with Noble Group and its subsidiary Noble Agri International Limited on April 2, following which they had approached the CCI for approval.