Shareholders Unilever Indonesia Approve Spreads Assets Sale to KKR & Co
In an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday (21/06), shareholders of Unilever Indonesia - which is among the biggest companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization - approved to sell the company's food spreads business to a subsidiary of KKR & Co, the New York-based global investment company that is engaged in a wide variety of sectors including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and hedge funds.
Hemant Bakshi, President Director of Unilever Indonesia, said the deal - which is expected to be completed in July 2018 - is the next step in reshaping and sharpening Unilever Indonesia's portfolio for long-term growth. With the sale of Unilever's spreads assets, the company will now focus on the personal care and (other) food categories. The buyout is will cost KKR & CO around IDR 2.92 trillion (approx. USD $209 million).
Meanwhile, the sale will also allow the spreads business to stand alone under the new owner, hence able to focus on growth and innovation. The asset sale involves intangible assets, namely the right to distribute products under the global trademark Frytol, Blue Band Master and Blue Band, as well as the local trademarks of Samin Oil and Blue Band Gold. In addition, Unilever Indonesia will also sell tangible assets, such as production assets, equipment, inventory and merchandise and will lease (part of the) land and its Cikarang factory building (in West Java) that is used to produce the spreads products (primarily butter and margarine).
In December 2017, the global headquarters of Unilever received an offer from KKR & Co related to Unilever's global spreads business, including the assets of the spreads category that are managed in Indonesia by Unilever Indonesia.
Unilever Indonesia Director Sancoyo Antarikso said the land and factory in Cikarang will be rented out (up to 22 June 2022) to Sigma Bidco BV, a consumer products company that is based in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) but owned by Cayman Islands-based KKR Sigma Aggregator. The lease is estimated to contribute 2.8 percent to Unilever Indonesia's total revenue.
Meanwhile, funds that are obtained through the divestment of the spreads business will be used to improve the financial ratio of Unilever Indonesia as well as to strengthen existing business sectors or expand into new areas. Antarikso did not give any further details about future expansion plans and acquisitions.
Back in late 2017, KKR & Co acquired a 12.64 percent stake in Indonesia's largest producer of bread products, Nippon Indosari Corpindo, through KKR & Co's Asian Fund III. Earlier, KKR & Co had already invested in Indonesian agri-company Japfa Comfeed Indonesia (in which it now controls a 11.98 percent stake) as well as Indonesian unicorn GO-Jek. KKR & Co is particularly positive about Indonesia's consumer sector and therefore seeks partnerships with strong Indonesian companies that deliver premium, high quality products to consumers.
On Thursday shares of Unilever Indonesia fell 0.17 percent to IDR 44,200 a piece, a much softer decline than the 1.05 percent decline of the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index that day. So far this year the company's shares have fallen 20.93 percent, particularly due to a decline in net profit and sales in the first quarter of 2018.
Stock Quote Unilever Indonesia - UNVR: