Together with the capital increase and minus the repayment of a previous loan, BayWa AG will receive approximately €300 million in new funds. Completion of the sale depends, among other things, on certain suspensive conditions, such as those from antitrust authorities. It is expected that this will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
BayWa, the largest agricultural trader in Germany, plays an important role in agriculture and food supply in southern and eastern Germany. However, the company is burdened with billions of euros in debt following a large (partly failed) expansion, during which it has been mainly reliant on loans and credits over the past ten years.
To enable reorganization, the Austrian BayWa division will be divested. The share package will go for €176 million to the (German) RWA cooperative. This cooperative is with 28.3 percent the second largest shareholder of BayWa.
The Dutch grain and soybean trader Cefetra and the New Zealand fruit producer T&G Global (Turners & Growers) are also up for sale. BayWa’s wind energy projects must be divested within two years. The restructuring plan includes cutting about 1,300 of the nearly 8,000 jobs, and BayWa plans to close 26 of the current 400 locations.