Molinos Río de la Plata ( BCBA: MOLI) is

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

's largest branded food products company. The company is a large

exporter An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

of sunflower processed oil and is one of Argentina's main exporters of bottled oil. Molinos also produces a wide range of packaged foods for domestic consumption, including bottled oil, margarine,

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...

, pre-mixes, packaged flours,

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The lea ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, cold cuts, and frozen foods.

Overview

Buenos Aires Puerto Madero Porteño 1999-05-01

Molinos Río de la Plata (Molinos) originated with the 1899 establishment of ''Centenera'', a food processing plant, by

Bunge y Born Bunge & Born was a multinational corporation based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose diverse interests included food processing and international trade in grains and oilseeds. It is now known as Bunge Limited. History Bunge & Born was founded in 1 ...

, then a prominent local

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

milling company established by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

immigrants in 1884. They had one of the largest wheat mills in the country built on a

Puerto Madero Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of Buenos Aires in Argentina in the central business district, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and repres ...

lot in 1902, and with it, established ''Molinos Río de la Plata'' (later a leader in the local retail foods market).educ.ar - Procesos económicos en la Argentina: el caso de Bunge y Born
/ref> Bunge & Born divested itself of almost all its retail foods interests in 1998, however, and was reorganized as

Bunge Limited Bunge Limited is an American agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Bermuda, and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As well as being an international soybean exporter, it is also involved in food processing, grain tr ...

, upon which a controlling stake in Molinos was sold to

Gregorio Pérez Companc Gregorio Pérez Companc (born Jorge Gregorio Bazán; August 23, 1934) also known as "Don Gregorio" or "Goyo," is an Argentine businessman and one of Argentina's wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of US$2.5 billion as of August 20 ...

. On August 1, 2002, Molinos announced the partial repurchase of its US$150 million senior secured export notes (SENs), due 2006. Molinos repurchased US$31.4 million face value of the notes at a 25% discount, using available cash balances. Following the repurchase, the amount outstanding on the SENs is US$52.6 million. The transaction has improved Molinos' financial profile by reducing the debt burden and lowering debt servicing costs. Molinos remains current on its scheduled debt payments. Notwithstanding, Molinos' credit risk remains high due to the negative financial ramifications of the peso's devaluation and the adverse economic environment in the country. On a ''

pro forma The term ''pro forma'' (Latin for "as a matter of form" or "for the sake of form") is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to ...

'' basis at June 30, 2002, after accounting for the repurchase, Molinos' total consolidated financial debt reached Arg$718.8 million (approximately US$188 million), composed mainly of a balance outstanding on its SENs of US$52.6 million and US$84 million in working capital finance, most of it dollar denominated.MOLINOS RIO: Fitch Ratings Comments On Repurchase of SENs Molinos operates 20 manufacturing plants, 10 distribution centers, and 600 trucks, among other facilities. It owns 75,000 hectares (188,000 acres) of prime

Pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...

land for the production of

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molinos Rio De La Plata m Food manufacturers of Argentina, m m m m