Boortmalt sells more than a million tonnes of malt per annum. Credit: Pierre-Alain Dorange.

US food company Cargill has reached an agreement to divest its malt business to Boortmalt for an undisclosed price.

This deal involves 15 facilities across four continents. Cargill’s malt business has over 500 employees.

Boortmalt is an Axéréal subsidiary, which operates ten plants in Europe and produces more than a million tonnes of malt a year.

Its supplies malt to brewers, distillers and micro-brewers. Using its strategic location at Antwerp, Boortmalt exports 50% of its total production to emerging markets.

Cargill Malt business serves brewing, food, and beverage industries. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory and other approvals. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the next year.

The acquisition is expected to provide Boortmalt with a platform to expand its global footprint and enable Cargill to grow its malt business.

Boortmalt parent company Axereal is engaged in growing and processing cereals for brewing, baking and livestock industries.

With 13,000 cooperative members and 3,200 employees, Axereal has operations in 13 countries and generates a turnover of around $3.4bn per year.

Last month, Canadian agri-food cooperative La Coop fédérée acquired Cargill’s grain and crop input assets in ontario after obtaining the Competition Bureau approval.