By Asian Venture Capital Journal
The offer of NZ$1.23 per share represents a 50% premium to the April 24 closing price of NZ$0.82. Tegel would also be permitted to pay a dividend of NZ$0.041 per share prior to the offer closing, according to a filing. The stock closed up nearly 37% at NZ$1.12 on April 26, the highest it has reached since early February.
Affinity has already agreed to the buyout offer. The private equity firm holds a 45% stake in Tegel, or 160.2 million shares, which means it stands to receive around NZ$197 million from Bounty Fresh, plus any dividend. It has already taken money out of the business. Tegel raised NZ$298 million in its IPO in 2016, selling shares at NZ$1.55 apiece, with Affinity reducing its stake from 87.4% to 45%.
The GP bought Tegel in 2010 at a valuation of NZ$605 million. The business was majority-owned by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP), which had acquired it in late 2005 through a carve-out from Heinz. PEP sold 44% and ICG 3% in 2008. ICG made another investment in Tegel alongside the Affinity deal.
Founded in 1961, the company is responsible for about half of New Zealand's poultry and manufactures a range of other processed meat products, including sausages, for which it is the country's second-largest producer. It has a network of 38 breeder farms, three hatcheries, 93 farms, three processing plants, and five distribution centers.
Tegel produced 99,806 tons of poultry in the 2017 financial year, up from 93,149 tons the year before. Over the same period, revenue went from NZ$582.4 million to NZ$614 million, while underlying EBITDA was more or less flat at NZ$75.6 million, and net profit rose from NZ$11.3 million to NZ$34.2 million.
The Philippines is already one of the company’s top five export markets after signing a distribution agreement with a local restaurant player. Bounty Fresh is the only fully-integrated poultry producer in the country, supplying hotels and restaurants, caterers, and supermarkets. The company is best known for its own-brand fresh chicken and frozen chicken nugget products.