Food processing company Archer Daniels Midland Co. said July 2 that it completed a transaction allowing it to launch a soybean-related joint venture in Egypt with privately held agricultural products company Cargill Inc.

The U.S. companies initially entered into an agreement in February to form the 50/50 joint venture, called SoyVen. It will function as an independent entity and provide soybean meal and oil to the Egyptian market.

SoyVen will own and run the National Vegetable Oil Co.'s soy crush facility in Borg Al-Arab, Egypt, in addition to other related operations including a Swiss business that supplies the soybeans to be processed.

The crush capacity of the Egyptian plant has been doubled to 6,000 metric tons daily in order to meet higher local demand for soybean meal and oil.

Ahmet Ertürk has been named CEO of SoyVen. The executive previously held global management positions with Cargill in its malt and grains operations, as well as its oil seeds business.

SoyVen will have offices in Cairo and Borg Al-Arab in Egypt, as well as in Rolle, Switzerland. Its management team will report to a board of directors appointed by both ADM and Cargill.