Bright Food’s CSR Acquisition On Track

The $1.4 billion acquisition of Australia’s largest sugar refinery CRS Ltd. by China’s Bright Food is still on track, the Shanghai-based food maker has said.

The Beijing News reports CSR has received a non-binding offer from Bright Food for the sugar business, but the company suggested negotiations proceed only when the deal is confirmed.

Up until now, no guarantee has been provided by Bright Food.

CSR announced on January 15 that it still prefers to go ahead with the planned demerger of the business, to be called Sucrogen, in order to improve the benefits to the shareholders. However, CSR said the possibility was not ruled out for both to further negotiate.

Ge Junjie, Vice President of Bright Food said Thursday that negotiations with CSR over the acquisition is still underway, but declined to give more details.

Analysts say that there is still a large gap between the two sides over the bid price, adding Bright Food need to add at least 30 million U.S. dollars to complete the deal before CSR’s investors vote on the company’s sugar demerger, which would lead to a failed acquisition.

There are potential competitors for Bright Food, such as Brazil’s Cosan, Bunge Ltd. and Cargill from the US and the Associated British Foods, according to analysts.

The sugar industry is one of the five core industries of Bright Food. It accounts for 10 percent of China’s sugar market, with annual distribution of 1.2 million tonnes.