Turkey's Yildiz launches Godiva Japan sale - sources
23/10/2018 11:19
By Junko Fujita
TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Turkey's Yildiz Holding has
launched the sale of Godiva chocolate's Japanese business with
the first round of the auction set to close early next month,
sources said.
The auction is being handled by Morgan Stanley, said the
sources who asked not be identified because the sale process is
private.
Valuations are not set, with some sources estimating the
business to be worth closer to $1 billion.
In September, sources told Reuters the sale of Godiva's
Japanese business could fetch around $1.5 billion. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1WC2DC
Spokeswomen at Morgan Stanley and Godiva Japan declined to
comment.
Revenues at Godiva's Japanese business have almost tripled
since 2010 to reach 39.8 billion yen ($353.62 million) in 2017,
according to the company.
Japan is the world's sixth-biggest chocolate market,
according to Euromonitor International, with estimated 2018
retail sales of $5.2 billion.
Yildiz, one of Turkey's biggest conglomerates with brands
that include McVitie's biscuits and Flipz chocolate pretzels,
bought Godiva in 2007.
The sale of Godiva in Japan is most likely to attract
private equity buyers hungry for assets, one of the sources
said, because the maturity of the Japanese market could make it
harder for a strategic buyer to produce further growth.
Private equity firms are actively seeking deals in Japan.
In 2017, they enjoyed a record year with deals struck worth
$24.6 billion - headlined by the $18 billion sale of Toshiba
Corp's chip unit to a consortium led by Bain Capital.
However this year, private equity has so far been involved
in just $2.4 billion worth of deals, according to Refinitiv
data.
($1 = 112.5500 yen)
(Reporting by Junko Fujita
Additional reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong
Edited by Malcolm Foster and Darren Schuettler)
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