Exclusive: Tyson Foods plans to sell China
HONG KONG/NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) – U.S. meat and processed food maker Tyson Foods (TSN.N) plans to sell its China poultry business, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in the latest case of a multinational firm looking to divest from the country in recent years.
The company has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to advise on the sale and sent preliminary information to potential buyers including a number of private equity firms, said two of the people, adding the sale process was at an early stage.
While it was not immediately clear what valuation Tyson Foods is seeking for the China poultry business, it has annual sales of about $1.1 billion, one of the people said.
Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The sources, who did not say why Tyson was planning to sell the business, declined to be identified because the information was confidential.
Calls to Tyson Foods’ China headquarters in Shanghai went unanswered.
Tyson said this month it was evaluating all operations and closing four more U.S. chicken plants in the latest bid to reduce costs after its third-quarter revenue and profit missed Wall Street expectations.
A string of multinational firms have divested their China businesses or pared their holdings in the last few years as some found it hard to reap desired profits amid the country’s slower economic growth, strong local competition or geopolitical headwinds, according to bankers.
Foreign companies have divested a combined $8.4 billion of Chinese assets across all sectors so far this year, following $13.5 billion of disposals in 2022, Dealogic data showed.
In the food industry, U.S. agricultural giant Cargill struck a deal in May to sell its China poultry business to private equity firms DCP Capital for an undisclosed price.
