New Hope, a leading agribusiness operator in China, and US-based private equity firm Blackstone are in the final round of bidding for Australia's leading poultry processor Inghams Enterprises.
Second round bids are expected to be launched in December, reported Reuters citing sources with knowledge of the deal.
The expected price for the sale is around A$1.4bn ($1.5bn), which is about six or seven times Ingham's fiscal 2013 earnings.
New Hope is the leading supplier of meat, eggs and dairy products in China. The company, which has annual revenues of $8.8bn, has also forayed into Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Blackstone is the leading alternative asset manager in the world. UK bank Barclays is acting as an advisor to Blackstone over the deal.
In July 2012, Ingham's only shareholder Bob Ingham put the business up for sale and appointed Investec Bank to handle the divestment.
Inghams, which owns the Ingham Chicken brand, produces chicken and poultry products and operates across Australia and New Zealand. The company's expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for 2013 are nearly A$200m ($204.25m).
