China Food Company PLC Update on Sale of Animal Feed Business (6929E)

TIDMCFC

RNS Number : 6929E

China Food Company PLC

14 April 2014

 
     Press Release       14 April 2014 
 

China Food Company Plc

("China Food", "Group" or the "Company")

Update on Sale of Animal Feed Business

China Food Company Plc (AIM:CFC), a leading Chinese manufacturer of cooking and dipping sauces, today provides the following update on the sale of its animal feed business.

PwC China is managing the sale of this business and, as previously announced, by mid December PwC had received expressions of interest from seven parties which were commencing the initial due diligence process. One of these offers was from the feed business' executive team. The Company has considered the credibility of the various parties and the likely timing of an agreement, and has consequently taken the decision to grant exclusivity to the executive management team for a period of one month. The proposed consideration is at a premium to the net assets of the business which were GBP3.86 million as at 30 June 2013.

The Company has now signed heads of terms in relation to this proposed transaction, and the sale is expected to conclude by summer 2014. The Board will provide a further update on progress in due course.

- Ends -

For further information:

 
      China Food Company Plc 
      John McLean, Chairman        Tel: [phone] 
                                    www.chinafoodcompany.com 
 
 
      finnCap 
      Geoff Nash / Ben Thompson (Corporate       Tel: [phone] 
       Finance)                                                  0500 
      Simon Starr (Broking) 
 
 
      Numis Securities 
      David Poutney (Joint Broker)       Tel: [phone] 
                                                         1000 
 

Media enquiries:

 
      Abchurch Communications 
      Joanne Shears / Canace Wong              Tel: [phone] 
                                                               7709 
      [e-mail]       www.abchurch-group.com 
 

Notes to Editors:

China Food is a well-established food manufacturing business based in Shandong province in the People's Republic of China, a region with a population of circa 94 million. A recent report identified Shandong province as one of the five most attractive 'city clusters' in China, due to the high number of large cities in the province*. The Group manufactures numerous different product lines including soya sauce and bean paste, all targeting the Chinese domestic market, and sold through a network of distributors and outlets of supermarket chains in the north-eastern region of the PRC, such as Walmart, Carrefour and Jialejia.

The Chinese sauces, dressings and condiments market is expected to be worth CNY115 billion (US$15 billion) by 2013, driven by Chinese population growth and economic prosperity. The Chinese domestic market is rapidly expanding, and the Group is well positioned to benefit from China's demographic growth and increased urbanisation.

The Group's operations are highly scalable and able to support further growth, and with net assets of GBP32 million (as at 30 June 2013), the prospects for China Food are strong. Further information on China Food Company can be found at www.chinafoodcompany.com.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

MSCBUGDSBXBBGSB