U.S.-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has announced that it has acquired an 18% stake in Chinese chicken meat producer Fujian Sunner Development Co. Ltd for $400 million. Fujian Sunner is the largest breeder, processor, and supplier of chicken products in China’s highly fragmented poultry industry which has experienced multiple setbacks recently from outbreaks of avian flu to a food safety scandal from which the Shanghai arm of meat supplier OSI Group Inc. was accused of selling expired meat to restaurants. Last year China overtook the U.S. as the world’s top consumer of chicken however per capita consumption remains low at 10 kilograms per person per year compared to 43 kilograms per person per year in the U.S. This deal comes on the heels of KKR leading a consortium of investors which invested $270 million into the meat processing operations of China’s state-owned COFCO Corp.
To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free weekly enhanced eNews service