Global energy and commodities trader Hartree Partners is in advanced discussions to acquire Bordeaux-based Touton SA, according to people familiar with the matter. The French group, founded in 1848, handles close to 10% of the world’s cocoa as well as coffee and spices. No financial terms have been disclosed, and both companies declined to comment on the negotiations. The potential deal comes as the cocoa market endures its sharpest volatility in decades. Futures on the ICE exchange jumped the most since December on Monday, extending a rally that earlier this year pushed prices above $12,000 a metric ton after poor harvests and disease in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Elevated collateral requirements and mounting trading losses have driven several hedge funds out of the sector and are pressuring mid-sized merchants to seek partners with deeper balance sheets. Touton’s net profit surged to €130 million in the fiscal year ended March 2024—more than seven times the previous year—yet bankers remain wary of financing independent traders amid the price swings. Hartree, backed by Oaktree Capital Management and led by former Goldman Sachs energy traders, entered agricultural commodities last year with the purchase of UK-based ED&F Man Commodities. Acquiring Touton would cement the New York-based firm’s expansion into soft commodities and mark another step in the consolidation of a fragmented cocoa trade.