KKR & Co., the private-equity firm led by billionaires Henry Kravis and George Roberts, acquired a minority stake in China’s largest chicken grower Fujian Sunner Development Co., for about $400 million, Bloomberg reports.
Fujian Sunner said in a statement that it aims to ensure product quality by controlling production from farming to processing.
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Food quality has been a major concern in China, after several incidents where products were discovered to be tainted. Earlier this month, H.J Heinz recalled flour that was contaminated with lead. In July, McDonald’s Corp. pulled some items from its Chinese restaurants following a recall of meat from Shanghai.
“Vertically integrated chicken farming is a key solution to the food safety threats facing China’s animal protein sector, ” KKR executive Julian Wolhardt said in today’s statement.
KKR, which oversaw $98 billion in assets, is making $6 billion investments in Asia, according to Bloomberg. It’s the largest private-equity fund in Asia. The firm also manages $1 billion growth-equity investments in Chinese companies.
