Noble Group’s Head of Grain and Oilseeds Departs

As Noble Group’s integration with COFCO moves forward, the group’s head of grain and oilseeds, Switzerland-based Paul Marland, has left the trader.

In April 2014, China’s state-owned COFCO Corp. acquired a 51% stake in Noble’s agribusiness arm for $1.5 billion after buying a 51% stake in Dutch grain trader, Nidera, for a total expenditure of $2.8 billion in little more than a year. The purchases expanded COFCO’s presence in the global grain trade, but created an atmosphere of uncertainty within the companies.

This week COFCO announced that it was planning to combine the assets of itself with those of Nidera and Noble within three to five years, however, an additional source told Reuters that the trading books of the three companies are scheduled to begin being combined within weeks.

The combining of the three companies is not expected by traders to disrupt global grain or oilseed trade, but it is admitted that the integration will likely result in staff cuts.