Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co, a leading food and beverage provider in China, is reportedly bidding to acquire KP Snacks, the snack unit of United Biscuits Plc, a British food company, for 520 million pounds ($ 816 million), British daily The Telegraph reported Sunday.
The snack unit has been put on sale by its private equity owners, the Blackstone Group LP and PAI Partners, with Credit Suisse as the advisor. A detailed sales plan has been sent to six likely buyers including Wahaha Group, said the report.
Wahaha Group told the Global Times Monday that the group was not aware about the report.
Some experts said that there is nothing unusual about Wahaha Group acquiring a foreign snack company.
"The domestic food and beverage producers have been actively expanding in the overseas markets by acquiring their foreign counterparts in recent years. For example, Shanghai-based Bright Foods (Group) Co, has completed three overseas acquisitions by now," Dai Qiaoling, executive director of Frost & Sullivan China, told the Global Times Monday.
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