[SINGAPORE] Food and agri-business giant Olam said on Thursday (Aug 28) that it will close Jiva Ag, a digital farmer services platform developed by the group’s venture arm, Nupo Ventures.
A total of 606 employees will be affected.
Eight are from Singapore, where the group is headquartered and listed. Of the remaining, 531 are from Indonesia, 66 from India and one from Australia.
Olam said that it is supporting the impacted workers with redeployment opportunities within the group or severance packages. They will also be provided with outplacement services and access to the group’s employee assistance programme.
The closing was attributed to the expected continuing investment needed to sustain Jiva Ag’s operations in, what the group described as, “challenging times and difficult market conditions”.
Two weeks ago, the group reported a 574 per cent climb in net profit for its first half-year ended Jun 30. But it also posted a loss of S$13.2 million related to the impairment of intangible assets within its incubating businesses segment – primarily associated with Jiva Ag.
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Olam expects to book and announce one-off costs estimated at up to US$9 million related to the closure in its financial results for the second half of 2025, ending Dec 31. The costs are not expected to have a material impact on the group’s results in the current financial year, said the press statement.
Intellectual property associated with Jiva Ag will be retained by Olam or one of its subsidiaries, it added.
Olam noted that its decision follows its updated re-organisation plan for the year announced earlier in April, which aims to de-lever the balance sheet of the remaining Olam Group – one of its three operating groups, the other two of which are Olam Food Ingredients and Olam Agri.
The goal is to make the remaining Olam Group debt-free and self-sustaining, and to responsibly divest all of its assets and businesses over time, said the mainboard-listed company.
Shares of Olam closed Thursday unchanged at S$1.02.
