May 16, 2012

Charoen Pokphand bids to buy Iglo's Birds Eye for US$4 billion

A bid for GBP2.5 billion (US$4 billion) is being considered to be submitted by Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) for Iglo's Birds Eye business, which was put up for sale by its private equity owner Permira in March 2012.

With the acquisition, CP Foods is said to be eyeing growth in the frozen food category, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Private equity investment firms such as Bain Capital, BC Partners, Blackstone and PAI Partners are also believed to be keen to acquire Birds Eye.

First round bids were submitted last week, while the second round bids are expected to be submitted in a few weeks; CP Foods may partner with a private equity firm to acquire Birds Eye.

If CP Foods wins the bid, Birds Eye would become the latest British food brand to be acquired by a foreign company - recently, Chinese state-owned Bright Food entered into an agreement to acquire a 60% controlling stake in breakfast cereal company Weetabix from its private equity owner Lion Capital for GBP720 million (US$1.15 billion).

The company was put up for sale in March after Permira received unsolicited expressions of interest from several companies.

Permira acquired the Iglo and Birds Eye brands from Unilever in 2006 and combined them to form Birds Eye Iglo, which was later renamed to Iglo.

In 2010, Permira expanded Iglo's operations further by acquiring the Findus brand in Italy from Unilever.

CP Foods, which is a leading food producer in Thailand, has annual revenue of GBP6 billion (US$9.6 billion) and a significant market presence in the UK.

The company produces own-label food for UK supermarkets from its factory in Newmarket.