Tiger Brands: Plug pulled on Kenyan purchases

Tiger Brands had dropped plans to acquire Kenyan companies Rafiki Millers and Magic Oven Bakeries, the JSE-listed food company said yesterday, terminating deals worth at least $25 million (R270.5m). Tiger Brands, which has been on an aggressive expansion in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, said the acquisitions had been called off by “mutual agreement between the parties”. It did not give further details and a spokesman was not available for comment. The company said last month that it had “recently acquired” 100 percent of both Rafiki and Magic Oven, saying the Kenyan food companies had a combined annual revenue of about R350m. Business Day said in January that the Rafiki acquisition would be worth about $25m, citing a company executive. The Tiger Brands share price gained 1.69 percent to close at R279.65 on the JSE yesterday. – Reuters