China's Bright Foods to Acquire Australia's Manassen
Australia's manufacturing firm Manassen Foods has been reported negotiating a deal with China's second largest food company Bright Food Group Co.
Reports from Bloomberg and Reuters said that China's Bright Foods plans to buy the 75 percent equity of Champ Private Equity in Manassen Foods.
Manassen Foods is the maker of Albatros bread and Harringtons chocolates, an enterprise value of about A$530 million, according to people involved in the negotiations quoted by Bloomberg and who requested anonymity.
Manassen Foods, the maker of Albatros bread and Harringtons chocolates, has been in existence since 1953 and has more than 350 employees, the company website said. Bright Foods could be interested in its wide array of dry good products including confectionery, cookies and cakes, perishables and frozen foods.
Bright Food plans to list the business in Hong Kong in three years, the reports added.
Earlier, the Chinese firm's chairman Wang Zongnan of Bright Foods said that it is looking into a foreign acquisition to boost foreign sales. It failed to acquire French yogurt maker Yoplait SAS and CSR Ltd.'s sugar unit.
The said transaction would increase Bright Food's annual sales by more than 3 billion yuan ($469 million), Bloomberg said.