(This March 16 story has been corrected to remove reference to Louis Dreyfus Company in paragraph 6)
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Steppe Agroholding acquired full control of RZ Agro which it had previously shared with members of the French family of global grain merchant Louis Dreyfus, Interfax reported on Sunday, citing a source familiar with the deal.
“This is logical that Steppe took over RZ Agro, it was expected. The deal was closed some time ago, now the management has changed in the company. The ‘divorce’ with the French partners was amicable,” the source said.
The deal size was unknown but it was done at “a big discount”, the source told Interfax.
Steppe, owned by the Russian conglomerate AFK Sistema, declined to comment on the report, Interfax said.
RZ Agro controls, manages and cultivates agricultural land, focusing on grains and oilseeds production, and currently operates on an area of over 100,000 hectares of arable land in Southern Russia, according to its website.
(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Louise Heavens)
