Bounty Fresh nears $309-million buyout of New Zealand poultry firm

MANILA, Philippines — Bounty Fresh Food Philippines, the poultry company founded by low key businessman Tennyson Chen, is now close to sealing its $309 million acquisition of the Tegel Group, New Zealand’s biggest poultry producer.

In a recent letter to shareholders, Tegel Group independent chairman David Jackson said Tegel shareholders representing 96.11 percent of the company accepted the offer on Aug. 28.

“The successful completion of the offer now depends on whether the Overseas Investments Office (OIO) approval is received within 30 days. Should the offer be completed, Bounty has indicated it intends to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares,” Jackson said.

However, the offer remains conditional on Bounty obtaining a final regulatory approval under the Overseas Investment Act.

Bounty has until Sept. 24 to obtain the approval under the Overseas Investment Act and to declare the offer unconditional.

“In the event the offer becomes unconditional, Bounty as the holder or controller of over 90 percent of the shares, will become the dominant owner of Tegel and has said it intends to compulsorily acquire all of the outstanding shares in Tegel at the same price as the offer of $1.23 per share,” Jackson said.

The deal, once completed, marks yet another global acquisition by a Philippine company.

It was in April when Bounty Fresh through its subsidiary Bounty Holdings New Zealand mounted a NZ$437.8 million or roughly $309 million offer for Tegel, which came at a challenging time for the New Zealand company amid a glut in domestic chicken supply.

Tegel’s 45 percent shareholder, Claris Investments, had already accepted the offer.

Bounty Fresh started in a one-layer house in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, with an initial 5,000 heads of chicken. 

From a 5,000-head layer farm, the business grew to be one of the largest broiler integrators in the country. It is the only fully-integrated poultry company that has continuously invested in company-owned facilities.

It is the first company in the Philippines to put up a single-stage commercial broiler hatchery, a technology that ensures better hatchery sanitation with controlled ventilation that will in turn produce better chick quality.