Charoen Pokphand Foods—controlled by Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont and his family—will buy Japanese trading firm Itochu Corp.’s 23.8% stake in CP Pokphand for $1.1 billion.
Upon completion of the transaction, CP Foods will own 100% of CP Pokphand, which will help boost CP Foods’ net profit and improve return on equity, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The full ownership of CP Pokphand—which operates agri-food businesses such as animal farming and the sale of processed food products in China and Vietnam—will also give CP Foods management flexibility and enable it to execute strategic plans more effectively.
Bermuda-based CP Pokphand was delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2022 by CP Foods and Itochu Corp. CP Foods is a fully-integrated agro-industrial business with interests in animal feeds, livestock production, farming and ready-to-eat meat products.
Following the divestment of its entire interest in CP Pokphand, Itochu said it will book a gain of 125 billion yen ($891 million) from the transaction in the current financial year to March 2026.
The parent company of CP Foods and CP Pokphand, Charoen Pokphand Group, is one of the world’s largest producers of animal feeds and livestock. In 1921, Dhanin’s late father, Chia Ek Chor, and his uncle, Choncharoen Chiaravanont, opened a shop selling seeds imported from China to Thai farmers. With a real-time net worth of $14.6 billion, according to Forbes’ data, Dhanin is among the richest in Thailand.