Evidence is emerging of Chinese investors exiting Australian agriculture, with meat processing giant Kilcoy slated for a $750m-plus US listing and fertiliser business Wengfu Australia also on the block.
After at least six years in the making, Kilcoy Pastoral is finally pushing forward with an initial public offering, but this time US investors are being targeted to support the float of the group.
The Queensland-based Kilcoy Pastoral is among Australia’s five largest meat-processing companies, with brands including Kilcoy Pure, Ebony Black Angus, and Golden Jubilee.
DataRoom reported in 2018 that the group was focused on the a float in Australia that was expected to be worth up to $1bn.
Back then, the business was understood to generate annual revenue of between $800m and $1bn. In 2020, it weighed a listing in Hong Kong but halted plans following meat import bans.
Now it is looking to raise $US150m ($230m) to list as a business worth $US500m-$US600m in the US.
And if it goes well, the buoyant market conditions in the US following the election of Donald Trump as president could see other groups follow its lead.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley is working on the initial public offering.
The company, known as Kilcoy Global Foods, is owned by Hosen Capital.
Hosen bought a major stake in Kilcoy, Australia’s largest grain-fed beef processor, from Asia fund PAG in 2013.
Meanwhile, KPMG has been tapped to sell Wengfu Australia, a rival in the fertiliser industry to Incitec Pivot, which also has its fertiliser unit up for sale.
Wengfu distributes fertiliser across the east coast, with assets in Brisbane, Newcastle, Geelong, Portland and Adelaide.
Market sources say it is expected to sell for between $50m and $80m, but if it sold for a similar price to the Incitec Pivot unit, it would be closer to $200m.
Its parent company is Guizhou Phosphate and Chemical Group.
The understanding is a data room is open, with three overseas buyers and no domestic interest.
The deal is likely to complete in the first half of next year.
Elsewhere, farmers collective the South Australian Dairy Association is positioning to buy the SA milk processing plants from collapsed dairy company Beston Global Food Company.
It comes after efforts by administrators at KPMG to find a commercial buyer for the group, which collapsed in September.
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