(July 31): It’s the end of an era for Noble Group. Some three decades after its founding, and from a perch among the world’s top commodity traders, the company is abandoning its global ambitions and falling back to its Asian roots in a last-ditch effort to survive.

Noble is selling its North American gas & power unit to rival Mercuria Energy Group and is seeking buyers for its global oil liquids business as it grapples with losses of as much as US$1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) in the second quarter. That will leave the Hong Kong-based firm -- once a rival to trading behemoths like Glencore Plc in its global reach across multiple commodities -- as effectively an Asian trader of coal, iron ore, freight and liquefied natural gas, with a market value of less than US$400 million.

As Noble tries to raise up to another US$1 billion from asset sales over the next two years, potential investors will be scrutinizing the profitability of its remaining businesses. It’s been a torrid few years for the company, which has seen it offload prized assets to shore up its finances, including a North American power trading unit and its agriculture arm. The company will also soon lose its gasoline blending facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast, petroleum storage in Panama, and fuel transport via American pipelines.

To continue reading,

Sign in to access this Premium article.

Subscription entitlements:

Less than $9 per month
3 Simultaneous logins across all devices
Unlimited access to latest and premium articles
Bonus unlimited access to online articles and virtual newspaper on The Edge Malaysia (single login)

Related Stories

Stay updated with Singapore corporate news stories for FREE

Follow our Telegram | Facebook