Tyson Foods plans to sell China poultry business

HONG KONG/NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters): US meat and processed food maker Tyson Foods plans to sell its China poultry business, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in the latest case of a multinational firm looking to divest from the country in recent years.

The company has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the sale and sent preliminary information to potential buyers including a number of private equity firms, said two of the people, adding the sale process was at an early stage.

While it was not immediately clear what valuation Tyson Foods is seeking for the China poultry business, it has annual sales of about $1.1 billion, one of the people said.

Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The sources, who did not say why Tyson was planning to sell the business, declined to be identified because the information was confidential.

Calls to Tyson Foods' China headquarters in Shanghai went unanswered.

Tyson said this month it was evaluating all operations and closing four more US chicken plants in the latest bid to reduce costs after its third-quarter revenue and profit missed Wall Street expectations.

China's meat market has become increasingly challenging, with livestock farm margins squeezed in the last two years due to weak demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased feed prices because of the Russia-Ukraine war, analysts have said.