Bright Food Sets Table for More M&A Bids 光明食品：高举并购大旗

Shanghai’s Bright Food seems determined to do some overseas m&a, raising nearly $1 billion via a bond offering and an IPO in pursuit of such opportunities. (English article) As many of you may recall, this is the company that made a failed bid for Britain’s United Biscuit last year, and they are now reportedly making a play for France’s Yoplait. (English article) This raising of nearly $1 billion should help to show potential takeover targets and financiers that Bright is really serious about its m&a aspirations. Any such deal would be interesting as there haven’t really been too many similar acquisitions by Chinese companies in the foodstuff space. Unlike more complex areas like telecoms and auto manufacturing, foodstuffs is relative simple, meaning a well-run Chinese player could stand a good chance at success if it gets the right target. All that said, I think Bright is making all the right moves to meet its m&a target, and wouldn’t be surprised to see it close a successful acquisition by the end of this year.

Bottom line: Bright Food’s recent capital raising will show the world it is serious about overseas m&a, helping to pave the way for its first major deal sometime this year.

上海光明食品似乎打定主意要在海外开展并购，它计划通过发债和将旗下一家公司上市筹集近10亿美元，以支持自己的并购计划。可能很多人都记得，光明食品去年曾试图收购英国联合饼干公司未果。现在，有报 道说光明又将目标瞄准了法国酸奶公司Yoplait。此次如能成功筹集10亿美元，光明将向收购目标公司和金融界表明，自己的并购决心不可小觑。这很值得关注，因为此前中国食品行业进行海外收购成功的案例很少。与电信和制造业等复杂领域不同，食品业并购相对简单。运营良好的中国企业如果选对了目标，成功可能性还是比较高的。在我看来，光明到目前为止的举动中规中矩，如果在今年年底前它能成功完成一笔并购交易，我是不会吃惊的。

一句话：光明食品近来的融资举动表明它进行海外并购意图坚定，今年也许能成功打响海外并购第一枪。