Cofco, China’s largest food company, has hired bankers to advise on a plan to combine plans to merge Cofco International Ltd., its international trading division, with several domestic businesses to create a new agricultural commodity behemoth, and then go on an IPO, according to Bloomberg.

The combination will create a new agricultural trading giant, putting Cofco’s international trading unit and domestic businesses assets in Brazil and China together.

China, the world’s largest buyer of commodities, has helped drive food prices higher over the past 12 months. The Geneva-based Cofco International, also known as CIL, struggled to make profit for long. But in 2020, the unaudited CIL's pretax profit is said to have surged to about $350 million, according to Bloomberg.

The merger is expected to be completed this year with the potential IPO possibly planned for the end of 2021 or early 2022. Still, the merger structure hasn’t been finalized and the IPO plan depends on investor appetite and commodities prices.

The merger will combine the market from South America, with its domestic assets that trade and process agricultural commodities in China. In effect, it will link farmers around the world directly with the biggest consumers in China.