Bright Food buys Weetabix
By Emily Ford |
May 4, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI-BASED Bright Food has agreed to buy British cereal group Weetabix for 1.2 billion pounds (US$1.94 billion), the companies confirmed yesterday.
After weeks of denials, Bright Food said it had struck a deal with British private equity house Lion Capital for 60 percent of Weetabix Group, including debt.
Bright Food has been in talks with Lion for several weeks about buying 80-year-old Weetabix, which also owns the brands Alpen and Ready Brek and is Britain's second-biggest cereal maker after Kellogg's. Lion Capital and Weetabix's management will retain the remaining stake.
The Chinese grocery giant yesterday said it planned to expand the Weetabix brand in China, where consumers are developing a taste for packaged convenience foods such as cereal, biscuits and chocolate.
"We are excited by the many growth opportunities for the business especially in international markets, and Asia in particular," said Wang Zongnan, the chairman of Bright Food. "We value the expertise of Weetabix's management and employees, and look forward to collaborating with them."
Bright Food said it would use its existing retail network in China to sell Weetabix more widely in the domestic market, where imported cereal is still expensive, costing two to three times European prices.
Clive Black, an analyst at the British brokerage Shore Capital, told Shanghai Daily: "Weetabix is a fantastic brand, a really prized asset in the UK."
The deal may close in the second half of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
After weeks of denials, Bright Food said it had struck a deal with British private equity house Lion Capital for 60 percent of Weetabix Group, including debt.
Bright Food has been in talks with Lion for several weeks about buying 80-year-old Weetabix, which also owns the brands Alpen and Ready Brek and is Britain's second-biggest cereal maker after Kellogg's. Lion Capital and Weetabix's management will retain the remaining stake.
The Chinese grocery giant yesterday said it planned to expand the Weetabix brand in China, where consumers are developing a taste for packaged convenience foods such as cereal, biscuits and chocolate.
"We are excited by the many growth opportunities for the business especially in international markets, and Asia in particular," said Wang Zongnan, the chairman of Bright Food. "We value the expertise of Weetabix's management and employees, and look forward to collaborating with them."
Bright Food said it would use its existing retail network in China to sell Weetabix more widely in the domestic market, where imported cereal is still expensive, costing two to three times European prices.
Clive Black, an analyst at the British brokerage Shore Capital, told Shanghai Daily: "Weetabix is a fantastic brand, a really prized asset in the UK."
The deal may close in the second half of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
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