* Sale values all of Glencore Agri at $6.25 bln
* Glencore to unload $3.6 bln in debt on to Agri unit
(Adds Glencore comments)
MELBOURNE, June 9 (Reuters) - Glencore GLEN.L has agreed
to sell a 9.99 percent stake in its agricultural business to
British Columbia Investment Management Corp for $624.9 million,
as it continues a push to sell up to $5 billion worth of assets
this year to help cut debt.
Glencore Agri would also take on $3.6 billion in debt
currently funded by Glencore, the Swiss-based mining and trading
firm said, helping to pare debt on Glencore's books. The debt
would be financed without recourse to Glencore.
The deal follows the company's sale of a 40 percent stake in
Glencore Agri to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $2.5
billion in April, and will leave Glencore with just over a 50
percent stake in the business, with existing management to stay.
"These transactions highlight the superior value of Glencore
Agri, with its advantaged asset footprint and business model,
relative to its closest peers," Glencore Chief Executive Ivan
Glasenberg said in a statement on Thursday.
The sale of the agricultural unit stakes plus an agreement
to sell a gold deposit in Kazakhstan for $100 million has put
Glencore on track to reach its asset sales target as it seeks to
cut net debt to between $17 billion and $18 billion this year.