Golden Springs sells 75% stake in Singapore animal feed producer Gold Coin to Aboitiz unit

GOLDEN Springs Group has sold a 75 per cent stake in Gold Coin Management Holdings to Pilmico International, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), in a deal which values the livestock feed producer at US$550 million.

Sabin M Aboitiz, AEV's chief operating officer and Pilmico's president and chief executive officer, said the acqusition will add three million metric tons of feed volume, in addition to quadrupling AEV's overall feeds production capacity.

The transaction marks the start of a "long-term partnership" between the Aboitiz Group and Golden Springs, which will continue to retain a 25 per cent stake in Gold Coin. 

Set up in Singapore in 1953, Gold Coin is now one of the largest animal feed producers in the Asia Pacific, operating across 11 countries. It is the "only pure-play animal nutrition producer" active in the majority of key livestock feed markets in South-east Asia, said Golden Springs.

It currently employs over 3,000 people across 21 production production facilities, and offers products for both the livestock and the aqua industries, including young animals and hatchery feed, premixes, concentrates and compound feed.

Golden Springs is an agribusiness owned by Peter Zuellig, a scion of Switzerland's wealthy Zuellig family, who said on Friday that "the Zuellig and Aboitiz families have known each other for generations". 

Said Mr Zuellig: "Gold Coin, as one of the leading animal nutrition platforms in Asia Pacific, is well-poised to capitalise on rising protein consumption. GSG has decided to continue to retain a minority stake to ensure that we are able to participate in Gold Coin's strong growth potential as it executes on its expansion strategies together with Pilmico."

Credit Suisse acted as Golden Spring's sole financial advisor on the transaction.

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