Blackstone, TPG among bidders for Australia's Inghams - report

According to Reuters, the bids could value the company at around A$800 million ($821 million). Both bids are backed by bank financing, with Blackstone tapping the US markets for funding and TPG using a consortium of commercial banks.

The chicken producer was put up for sale in July last year with Investec Bank hired to run the sale process. 

This deal would be the first time since 2007 Asian GPs have turned to the US high-yield market to finance buyout deals. At the AVCJ Australia & New Zealand Forum yesterday, Justin Reizes, managing director at KKR Australia, said that access to US markets was opening more opportunities to do larger financing and larger deals in the country.

"The pipeline is looking better than it has done for several years, with a number of corporate carve-outs coming," he said. "If you get similar leverage levels to the US it opens up public-to-private opportunities as well."

This won't be the only big poultry play Australasia has seen in recent years. In 2011, Affinity Equity Partners acquired Tegel Foods, New Zealand's largest poultry producer, from Pacific Equity Partners for NZ$600 million ($482.3 million).

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• The Blackstone Group
• TPG Capital
• Affinity Equity Partners
• AVCJ Events
• buyout
• Leveraged finance