Dairy company Danone may be about to sell its Griffin’s Foods Ltd. snacks unit in New Zealand according to the Bloomberg news agency, which cited “people familiar with the matter,” as the source.
The Paris-based company hired UBS AG to find buyers for the business, which Danone values at about NZD350m ($246m), the people said, asking not to be identified because the sale isn’t public. Initial bids are due on 16 December, they said.
Danone Chairman Franck Riboud is seeking growth in emerging markets such as Indonesia and Mexico in the face of rising costs for plastics and takeover speculation. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand expects growth in the economy to slow by about half after raising interest rates eight times in less than two years.
“It’s a good time to sell the business,” because many buyout firms have money to spend, said Stephen Walker of Walker Capital Management in Auckland, where Griffin’s is based. “A decline in economic growth isn’t such an issue for this type of business because people will still buy food.”
Tony Nowell, managing director of Griffin’s, didn’t return a call from the agency seeking comment. Simon Israel, chairman of Danone Asia Pacific, didn’t immediately return calls made to his Singapore office. UBS spokeswoman Caroline Gurney in Sydney declined to comment.
