Glencore to buy Viterra for $6.2 billion

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BAAR, Switzerland, March 20 (UPI) -- Mining and commodities giant Glencore International has reached agreement to buy the Canadian grain company Viterra for $6.2 billion, the companies said.

The all-cash deal apparently has been set up to avoid regulatory concerns of having a Canadian firm swallowed up by a foreign company.

Glencore's headquarters is in Baar, Switzerland. As such, Agrium and Richardson International, both Canadian companies, are in on the deal, "agreeing to acquire the majority of Viterra's Canadian assets," Glencore said in a statement.

Glencore, in turn, will take over Viterra's holdings in Australia.

The deal, the company said, includes a price that is a 48 percent premium over Viterra's closing price on March 8, the day before the negotiations became public.