Bunge buys Minsa Corporation as it expands into corn masa

Bunge North America, the North American arm of global agribusiness giant Bunge, has purchased Minsa Corporation for $75m in a deal that will see it take ownership of two corn flour mills as it seeks to expand into the high growth area of corn masa.

Corn masa is the main ingredient to make tortillas and tortilla chips and is a key growth area in the United States and globally, the company said.

“This acquisition is an important strategic step to strengthen our Food & Ingredients business in the U.S., and could provide additional growth opportunities for the company’s other regions,” said Todd Bastean, president of Bunge North America in a statment released Tuesday afternoon US time.

The deal involves the purchase of corn flour mills in Iowa and Texas and, with the company’s existing plant in Indiana, will make Bunge a leading US producer of corn masa.

Bunge is part of the ABCD companies that includes Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus that dominate world agricultural trade.

The acquisition comes at a time when the US-headquartered company has been the subject of takeover bids from both ADM and Glencore Agriculture, another agribusiness giant, although the latter has no footprint in the US.