990707 Cargill to Proceed With Continental Acquisition

Minneapolis and New York - Cargill and Continental Grain Company announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has completed its review of Cargill's proposed acquisition of Continental's Commodity Marketing Group, and the two companies will now complete the transaction as quickly as possible.

Under the stipulations required by the Department of Justice, the acquisition will not include Continental facilities in Beaumont, Texas; Caruthersville, MO; Chicago, IL; Lockport, IL; Salina, KS; Stockton, CA; and Troy, OH. In addition, Cargill has agreed to divest itself of grain-handling facilities in East Dubuque, IA; Morris, IL; and Seattle, WA. Cargill also has agreed to make a third of its daily loading capacity at Havana, IL. available to third parties to be used for delivery under Chicago Board of Trade contracts.

“This has been a long, arduous process,” said Frank Sims, president of Cargill's North American Grain operations. “We look forward to getting down to the business of melding our operations to reduce costs and improve service to our farm, feed, food manufacturing and overseas customers.”

This step clears the way for Cargill to conclude the acquisition, which also has been reviewed and approved by the appropriate regulatory agencies in Canada and the European Union.

Continental's pork, poultry, cattle, aquaculture, animal nutrition, petroleum trading, financial services or investment businesses are not included. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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