Swiss trader ECOM wins German OK to buy cocoa grinder Euromar (updated)

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02/05/2017 13:37

(Adds detail from paragraph three) 
    HAMBURG, May 2 (Reuters) - Swiss commodities trading group 
ECOM has received approval from German cartel authorities to 
purchase German cocoa grinder Euromar Commodities GmbH which 
declared insolvency in December, Euromar's insolvency 
administrator said on Tuesday. 
    Production at Euromar's plant at Fehrbellin near Berlin 
could resume in coming days, the administrator, Rolf Rattunde, 
said in a statement. 
    A sale contract for Euromar's factory, equipment and site 
had been signed and approved by Euromar's creditors in March but 
German cartel authorities had to approve the purchase. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1GQ4JN 
    "This contract has now been approved by the federal cartel 
office and so the final hurdle for the takeover has been 
removed," Rattunde said. 
    ECOM is a supplier of commodities to chocolate 
manufacturers, coffee roasters and cotton mills, the company's 
website says, with cocoa trading operations and processing 
plants in the Netherlands, Malaysia and Mexico. 
    Euromar had suffered liquidity problems caused by exchange 
rate fluctuations in the British pound, in which cocoa is traded 
in, and swings in cocoa prices. 
    U.S. parent company Transmar Commodity Group Ltd also filed 
for bankruptcy protection in December.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1EU1H5 
    German traders estimate Euromar's Fehrbellin cocoa grinding 
plant can crush 150 tonnes of beans a day, which with full 365- 
day production means around 54,700 tonnes a year. Germany grinds 
about 400,000 tonnes of cocoa annually. 
    Euromar's problems were a factor causing a sudden fall in 
European cocoa grindings in the fourth quarter of 2016. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1F636X 
    Euromar has never given official production figures. 
    Euromar had turnover of 980 million euros ($1.07 billion) in 
2015, Rattunde said. 
 
($1 = 0.9163 euros) 
 
 (Reporting by Michael Hogan; editing by Jason Neely and Louise 
Heavens) 
 ((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 40 419 03 4275; 
Reuters Messaging: 
michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: EUROMAR COCOA/