Subscribe & Follow

Advertise your job vacancies

Premier Foods seeks more acquisitions in Southern Africa

24 Oct 2014

Investment company Brait said on Wednesday, 22 October 2014, its subsidiary‚ Premier Foods‚ was looking to make more acquisitions in Southern Africa to build more scale.

Premier Foods seeks more acquisitions in Southern Africa

Premier Foods‚ whose brands include Blue Ribbon bread‚ Snowflake wheat‚ Iwisa maize and cotton-wool brand Dove‚ has been active on the acquisition front.

In June‚ Premier bought Ngwane Mills in Swaziland and in November last year it acquired Star Bakeries and Lil-lets.

"Premier is looking at interesting companies but until the deal is done‚ we can't really talk about it‚" CEO John Gnodde said on Wednesday following the release of the company's interim results for the six months ended September.

He said that‚ depending on the size of the deal‚ Brait would assist in funding the transaction. Brait has previously said it is looking to increase its stake in Premier from 85% to more than 90% in the next two to three years.

Gnodde said that its biggest investment company‚ Pepkor‚ was also looking for acquisitions‚ both in Europe and Africa.

On 19 September, Brait issued an announcement advising shareholders to use caution when dealing in its shares as it was in negotiations which, if successful, could have a material effect on its share price.

Brait has a war chest of R2.8bn in cash and other facilities earmarked for new investments.

"We are continuously looking for new deals. We will be opportunistic in our approach‚" Gnodde said.

Asked if the company did not have a lazy war chest‚ Gnodde said that out of the R2.8bn‚ Brait's cash was less than 3% of the company's assets. He said the cash equivalents were within the company's benchmark maximum of 25% of net asset value.

In the six months to end-September‚ Brait showed cash of R622m. In its interim results on Wednesday‚

Brait's value of investments grew to 24% - R18.4bn in the six months to end-September compared with R14.8bn.

Commenting on the results‚ an analyst said: "It was in line with expectations. The kind of disappointment was the performance of Iceland Foods. Premier did well. But Pep is starting too slow."

Pepkor grew its net asset value to R11.5bn‚ an increase of 13.7% compared to the previous period.

Premium Foods' net asset value grew more than 100%‚ to R3.8bn from R1.8bn in the previous corresponding period. Iceland Foods saw its net asset value fall 24% to R1.4bn.

Source: BDpro via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za