Japfa Weighs Selling Indonesian Dairy Unit Greenfields

(Bloomberg) -- Japfa Ltd. is weighing a sale of its Indonesian dairy unit and could seek as much as $500 million from the deal, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Singapore-listed industrial agri-food company has started a sale process for PT Greenfields Indonesia and is working with an adviser on the transaction, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the process is private. Japfa has shortlisted several suitors and is inviting them to submit binding bids, they said.

Deliberations on the planned sale are still ongoing and there is no certainty that Japfa will proceed with the transaction, the people said.

A representative for Japfa responded to queries by directing Bloomberg News toward a Singapore stock exchange filing Monday. While Japfa is exploring a potential transaction with certain parties relating to its subsidiary Greenfields Dairy Singapore Pte, there is no certainty or assurance that any specific or definitive transaction will materialize as a result, according to the filing. PT Greenfields Indonesia is a unit of Greenfields Dairy Singapore.

A representative for PT Greenfields Indonesia did not respond to requests for comment.

Greenfields, established in 1997, produces fresh milk in an integrated farm and dairy processing facility, according to its website. It has over 10,000 Holstein and Jersey cows and produces over 43.5 million litres of fresh milk each year.

In addition to supplying the Indonesian market, Greenfields also sells a significant portion of its finished products in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines and other countries in the region.

Japfa, which is backed by Indonesian tycoon Handojo Santosa, has more than 40,000 employees working across an integrated network of farming, processing and distribution, according to its website.

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