Commodity Trader ED&F Man Expands Into Cotton With Viterra Hires

(Bloomberg) — Commodities trader ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. is expanding into the cotton market after hiring a team from Viterra, an agriculture company backed by Glencore Plc, according to people familiar with the matter.

The London-based trader, best known for hauling sugar and coffee around the world, has tapped more than 10 traders from Viterra, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. The new hires include Josh Taylor, global trading manager for cotton at Viterra, and Andrew Kelly, head of physical cotton trading at the company, the people said.

The expansion into cotton comes just before US energy trading firm Hartree Partners LP is set to complete a deal to acquire ED&F Man, a storied trader which traces its history back more than 240 years and once supplied rum to the UK Royal Navy. It also comes as Viterra’s deal to be acquired by US agribusiness giant Bunge Global SA has stalled due to trade tensions between the US and China.

ED&F Man said it’s a priority to grow into other sectors beyond its core areas, but declined to comment further. A Hartree spokesperson declined to comment on the hires, saying ED&F Man remains an independent company pending the deal’s completion. Viterra declined to comment.

Hartree last year said it had bought ED&F Man’s debt. It currently plans to turn that into equity by mid-year, according to people familiar with the process. In its annual report, ED&F Man said the deal, when completed, “will mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter” and that Hartree’s strong balance sheet will enable further expansion of the commodities group. 

Hartree said in a statement Monday that the acquisition is “moving forward as planned, pending final regulatory approvals.”

The expansion into cotton signals a turnaround for ED&F Man, which has been restructured in recent years, having disposed of non-core and under-performing assets including its shipping unit, brokerage business and a number of sugar mills in Mexico. In 2022, ED&F Man got the green light to ring-fence its commodities business, separating it from the rest of the company. 

The new commodities group, which employs 4,900 people in 53 countries, reported profits before tax of $102.6 million in the year ended Sept. 30, according to filings with UK Companies House. That’s down from a record $166.9 million a year earlier. Coffee had a record year in 2024 and was the company’s best-performing unit, as prices rallied almost 70%.

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