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Africa\u2019s biggest fund manager is seeking a buyer for Daybreak Foods, its wholly owned chicken business in South Africa that has been plagued by scandals and a business-rescue process.<\/p>\n
The Public Investment Corp, which manages R3.7 trillion ($220 billion) in South African state-worker pension funds, plans to sell \u201cmore then 60%\u201d of the company, Chairman David Masondo said in reply to questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to exit it because we became a 100% shareholder by default,\u201d he said earlier on Bloomberg Television. \u201cWe need to get an operational, strategic equity partner that will invest in the asset.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The PIC has invested R1.7 billion over the past decade and placed it in a business-rescue process in June last year.<\/p>\n
Allegations of mismanagement, financial distress, regulatory issues, and incidents of animal cruelty have dogged the company, with Masondo saying the company has seen operational and financial improvements during the business-rescue process.<\/p>\n
Daybreak still supplies about 6% of the chicken market in South Africa, with the continent\u2019s biggest economy producing close to 1.7 million tons of protein a year. The country is home to some of the largest chicken-producing companies in the region, including Astral Foods, of which the PIC also owns 24%, and Rainbow Chicken, majority-owned by South African billionaire Johann Rupert\u2019s Remgro.<\/p>\n
Daybreak forms part of the PIC\u2019s unlisted portfolio business worth about R127 billion. \u201cThere are distressed assets, and we will have to get some specialists to work with the PIC in order to turn around those assets,\u201d said Masondo.<\/p>\n
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