The money from the deal will go to Romanian businessmen Catalin Trandafir (48) and Mihai Felescu (46). Very little is known about the two and there is no photo of any of them, either.
The industry values the exit of the two from the USA at more than EUR100 million, which means this is a record deal on the grain trade market.
“This acquisition fits perfectly in our growth strategy. It is a great opportunity for Nidera to establish and sustain a leading position in the origination and distribution of agricultural commodities in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Marc Kwakkelstein, executive vice president Europe of Nidera.
Neither Nidera nor USA officials commented on the financial details of the deal.
The two entrepreneurs have a two-decade history in the port of Constanta and are part of the select group of Romanian businessmen negotiating and dealing on equal footing with international grain trade giants, representatives of a non-transparent and exclusive industry.
Their company had been working closely with Nidera for many years before the takeover at the hands of the latter.
Felescu and Trandafir’s exit from the USA business leaves Constanta harbor with only three Romanian-held export terminals. They are Niva Prodcom (Nicolae Busu and Stelian Caraman), Silo-Port (Dumitru Pufleanu) and Socep (Nicolae Dusu, Ioan Dusu). The remaining seven high capacity facilities are either fully or partly held by multinational traders.
The export terminal sold has a capacity of 250,000 tons and can load two Panamax ships with a capacity of 60,000 tons each at the same time. Two such ships alone generate at least $30 million export revenue.
With the full ownership Nidera secures its position in this strategic port at the Black Sea. The move gives it freedom to operate and room to maneuver on the local market and in the countries by the Danube.
Nidera has an office in Bucharest, two inland silos and is building two more such facilities at the moment. Its local revenue stands at more than EUR150 million.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)