Marubeni earned $3 billion from the sale of Gavilon’s grain business

TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp ( 8002.T ) said on Tuesday it will pay $3 billion so far from the sale of its U.S. unit Gavilon grain business to commodities trader Glencore Plc’s ( GLEN.L ) Viterra arm.

In the deal announced in January and finalized on Monday, Marubeni received $3 billion on October 3, including group financing from Marubeni to Gavilon, based on best estimates at closing. Read more

The sale price will be finalized based on net working capital and net debt on a closing date agreed with Vitera, among other conditions, Marubeni said in a statement.

In January, Marubeni said it expected to receive a total of 300 billion yen to 400 billion yen ($2.1 billion to $2.8 billion) from the deal.

Marubeni expects to book a profit of about $55 billion ($379.7 million) from the sale in the October-December quarter.

The company said it was reviewing its profit forecast for the fiscal year to March 31 and planned to provide an update on November 4 with earnings results for the July-September quarter.

In the year The sale ends a painful run for Marubeni since it bought Gavilon for $2.7 billion in 2013 due to weak grain prices and market volatility, with a series of crippling losses and a 120 billion yen loss.

But the deal is expected to be a positive contribution to Marubeni, given the funds raised from the sale, including profits from the Gavilon business, which includes the Japanese trading house’s fertilizer arm, a Marubeni spokesman said.

($1 = 144.8700 yen)

Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Subhanshu Sahu

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