Cargill Agrees to Sell Its Stake in World’s Top Sugar Trader (1)

Cargill Inc. agreed to sell its 50% stake in the world’s largest sugar trader to its Brazilian partner Copersucar SA as the closely held U.S. agricultural giant shifts focus to its food processing and meat businesses.

The deal to offload its stake in Alvean, which handles about a fifth of the world’s sugar shipments, was signed on Tuesday, the companies said in a statement, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. The transaction is subject to approval from antitrust authorities.

The sale marks Cargill’s exit from the global sugar-trading business and comes about six years after partnering with Copersucar in a venture ...