PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. agribusiness group Archer Daniels Midland Co <ADM.N> said on Thursday it had agreed to buy complete control of British grain firm Gleadell Agriculture Ltd by purchasing a 50 percent stake from current partner InVivo.
The deal, which includes Gleadell's wholly owned subsidiary Dunns (Long Sutton) Ltd, is expected to close in the first quarter, ADM said in a statement, without disclosing financial terms.
The U.S. group plans to merge Gleadell and Dunns with its British units ADM Arkady and ADM Direct UK to create ADM Agriculture Ltd, it added.
"The transaction will increase ADM's origination, storage and destination marketing capabilities in the UK, allowing it to serve as the trading partner of choice for even more farmers and customers," the statement said.
ADM's CEO said in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday that it had looked at buying rivals including Bunge Ltd. <BG.N> but decided the time was not right for "monster" acquisitions.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Valerie Parent; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
