Nippon Meat Packers to buy Vietnamese company

Nippon Meat Packers Inc. will purchase Golden Pig Joint Stock Co. to become the first Japanese meat processor to manufacture and distribute products in Vietnam.

In a deal signed March 12, Nippon Meat will spend about JPY600 million (US$7.25 million) to buy new and existing shares in Golden Pig Joint Stock Co., acquiring a stake of over 80%. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of May.

Based in Long An Province, Golden Pig supplies high-end hotels and restaurants with ham and sausage. Nippon Meat aims to have its acquisition start cranking out under its own brand name in Vietnam later this year.

To quickly capture a significant slice of the market in the country, Nippon Meat plans to partner with two other Japanese companies, Acecook Co. and Marubeni Corp., which have sales channels there.

Nippon Meat will also consider exporting from Vietnam to neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos.

Golden Pig's sales are forecast to reach the equivalent of about JPY600 million (US$7.25 million) this year. Nippon Meat aims to raise that figure to JPY1.5 billion (US$18.12 million) by 2014, by introducing new products and improving production efficiency.