PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) - Commodities group Louis Dreyfus has agreed to take a minority stake in Malaysian palm oil firm Felda, it said on Monday, adding that it was conditional on a successful June stock market float for Felda.
Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH) is preparing to sell shares in what promises to be the world's second-largest initial public share offering this year after Facebook.
"It (the memorandum of understanding) concerns an industrial partnership that could eventually lead to the acquisition of a stake in the capital of this company as part of its listing," Chairman Margarita Louis-Dreyfus said in an interview published on the website of French newspaper Les Echos on Monday.
Sources told Reuters last week that FGVH officials had invited Louis Dreyfus to take a 4.9 percent stake in the company ahead of the $3 billion initial public offering. [ID:nL4E8G92HT]
Louis Dreyfus said in a statement on Monday: "This strategic partnership is a major step in Louis Dreyfus Commodities' development in Asia and a unique opportunity to cement its role as one of the largest integrated players in palm oil activities."
The proposed transaction involves both a strategic cornerstone investment in the IPO and the creation of two joint ventures, Louis Dreyfus added.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities has its headquarters in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
Chairman Louis-Dreyfus also told Les Echos that the commodities group had launched on May 9 a process to list its Brazilian subsidiary, which mainly operates in the sugar and ethanol markets.
The group plans to invest a total of $7 billion over the next five years, partly financed by bonds, she added, reiterating comments made by Chief Executive Serge Schoen in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday. [ID:nL1E8GD3MN]
