Fosun sharpens Aust M&A focus BRIDGET CARTER & GRETCHEN FRIEMANN...

Fosun sharpens Aust M&A focus

• BRIDGET CARTER & GRETCHEN FRIEMANN - THE AUSTRALIAN
• 8 HOURS AGO

China’s largest private conglomerate, Fosun, is in the process of opening an office in Western Australia as the Asian buyout firm sharpens its focus on acquisition targets in the food and agricultural sector.
It is understood that the Perth base will be in operation from next month, run by senior investment manager Dong Pan and investment director James Luo.
Australia’s west has numerous agricultural assets up for sale, according to sources, and that is presently the company’s focus.
Fosun International is the largest privately owned conglomerate in mainland China.
Founded in 1992, it has headquarters in Shanghai and was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2007. The latest move to locate in the west could help end its reputation as a perennial tyre kicker.


Among the Australian targets that have been on Fosun’s radar in the past 18 months are Morgan Stanley’s $8bn Investa office property platform, along with healthcare businesses such as Genesis Care, Healthscope, Healthe Care and Vitaco.
In the consumer space Fosun, which already has a presence in Sydney through its subsidiary Roc Oil, was also rumoured to have taken a cursory glance at the Costa Group.
Mines and resources companies have also been on Fosun’s agenda, with some suggestions that it may have held discussions with some Fortescue Metals executives over potential acquisitions of assets.
Apparently, top members of Fortescue’s management, including chief executive Neville Power and chief financial officer Stephen Pearce, have been out of the country for some time, fuelling suggestions that deals with international parties are almost certainly afoot.
It is also interesting to note yesterday the company went a step further in publicly signalling its intentions to embark on divestments, saying that they were “open to commercial discussions with a range of groups on a regular basis” following media speculation that the company was in talks about asset divestments.
Fortescue has been in talks about a potential divestment in part of its Chichester Hub asset, as first flagged by DataRoom in June.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/8/7/mergers-acquisitions/fosun-sharpens-aust-ma-focus