Bunge Ltd. shares rose 5 percent in early morning trading Monday following reports of advanced buyout talks with rival Archer Daniels Midland.
According to a Bloomberg report, an agreement could be reached as early as this week while other bidders could still be interested in acquiring Bunge, which has its North American operations in a newly opened headquarters facility in Chesterfield.
Officials with Bunge North America were not immediately available to comment.
Bunge is set to report its fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 14. The company reported a profit of $220 million through the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Reuters first reported ADM's interest in Bunge in January.
In May 2017, Swiss mining and trading giant Glencore confirmed it approached Bunge about a potential combination. The ADM discussions could trigger a bidding war between it and Glencore, the Bloomberg report said.
Mergers in the agribusiness sector are seen as another potential remedy for the oversupply of grains.
John Benny of Reuters contributed to this report.
