US grains giant Gavilon has raided the trading arm of Australia's largest grains handler, CBH Group, poaching the majority of the co-operative's senior traders as it looks to establish a strong presence in Perth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Gavilon's aggressive push into Western Australia - the nation's largest wheat-producing state and home to monopoly storage and handler CBH - comes just months after it failed to buy half of AWB's commodity arm with the aim of gaining entry to the lucrative Australian wheat market.
George Soros-backed Gavilon has recruited CBH Grain wheat trader Chris Brown and canola trader Bryan Keay in recent weeks after snaring CBH head of global trading Matt Rutter and head of marketing Justin Swan in September. Mr Rutter and Mr Swan had been with CBH for more than a decade.
Gavilon wants a staff of 24 in its Perth office by the end of next year, The Australian Financial Review reports.
