Sanyuan and Fosun enter exclusive discussions to jointly acquire St-Hubert, a century-old healthy food company
Acquisition would bring St-Hubert’s healthy foods and technological innovations to China
On July 25, 2017, Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co., Ltd. (“Sanyuan”) and Fosun Group (“Fosun”) (together the “Purchaser”) signed a series of transaction documents with Montagu IV FPCI and others (the “Seller”) to propose to acquire 100% equity interest in Brassica TopCo S.A. and PPN Management SAS (together the “target companies”), the controlling shareholders of St- Hubert SAS, a leading manufacturer of healthy spreads in France and Italy.
Established in 1904, St-Hubert is a leading manufacturer of healthy spreads, selling over 35,000 tons per year. It is a century-old healthy food company and enjoys a leading position in France and Italy. St-Hubert offers a variety of products include healthy spreads, plant-based yoghurts, drinks, and desserts. It is a pioneer in innovative healthy foods, with strong R&D capabilities and several patented technologies. Its healthy food products are free of hydrogenated fats, trans-fats and genetically modified ingredients. St-Hubert is also the creator of several leading products, such as the first spread with Omega 3 (St-Hubert Omega 3), organic spread (St-Hubert Bio), and spread with DHA (St-Hubert DHA).
In recent years, market demand for healthy food has grown strongly. The healthy foods and technological innovations of St-Hubert have grasped the strong demand of consumers for healthy foods. Sanyuan aims to introduce its healthy food technology of St-Hubert into China, as such Chinese families will be presented with more quality healthy food options.
This acquisition can bring the advanced and innovative production technologies to China, and also strengthen Sanyuan’s product capability and increase its global competitiveness. This acquisition between Fosun and Sanyuan, one of China’s largest state-owned dairy groups would represent an important and practical step towards China’s mixed-ownership reform.
Pursuant to Sanyuan’s announcement, “The objective of the planned acquisition of St-Hubert is to help the company introduce healthy organic products, further expand the product lines, and maximize synergies, thereby enhancing the brand image of Sanyuan. This planned acquisition fits in with Sanyuan’s industrial positioning as a provider of high-quality dairy and healthy food products and would help establish Sanyuan as a leading Chinese dairy products enterprise supported by global resources”.
Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun said: “This acquisition would represent an important and practical step towards China’s mixed-ownership reform. Through this strong partnership, we can maximize advantages of both Sanyuan and Fosun to optimize both parties’ competitiveness. The proposed acquisition also introduces healthy and innovative foods into China and is aligned with the government’s policy to support and drive technological innovation”.
Patrick Cahuzac, CEO of St-Hubert said: “Over the last five years, St-Hubert has continued to develop in line with our long-term strategy and commitment to developing products that are both tasty and have health benefits. With the help of Fosun and Sanyuan, we are excited by the prospect of further growing our leadership position in France and Italy and accelerating our international expansion, particularly in the Chinese market which has significant potential”.
The proposed transaction will be submitted to St Hubert’s workers’ council and is subject to clearance from relevant competition and regulatory authorities.
About Sanyuan
Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co. Ltd (“Sanyuan”) was established in Beijing in 1956 and has 60 years of history. Through a series of reforms and innovations, Sanyuan has transformed itself from a traditional food processing company to a modern and international dairy company. Sanyuan is a fully vertically integrated player with its principal activities spanning the entire dairy value chain, which includes milk supply bases, dairy products processing, sales, transportation and after-sales service.
Sanyuan manufactures a comprehensive range of dairy products and has a rich product suite. Sanyuan also devotes to expanding its portfolio with differentiated & innovative products. Its sales network covers the majority of China. Sanyuan products are both sold to end-consumers and through supply agreements to major global food and restaurant chain companies. Sanyuan also owns 50% and 25% stake of Beijing and Guangdong McDonald’s respectively.
Sanyuan is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (600429:SH). The company generated total revenues of RMB 5.9 billion (c. €750 million) and total assets is RMB 7.6 billion in the end of FY2016 (c. €967 million).
About Fosun
Fosun International is a multinational company that has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00656:HK) since 2007. Founded in 1992, Fosun’s total assets exceeds RMB 480 billion (c.US$70bn) and employs around 50,000 people globally. With its roots in China, Fosun is dedicated to creating global ecosystems in health, happiness (tourism and consumer) and wealth (insurance, hive property and investments). Through innovation and technology, Fosun's ecosystems provide high-quality products and services for families around the world.
