Ridley Corporation Limited (RIC) is pleased to announce the signing of agreements for the sale of Cheetham Salt Limited for $150 million, payable fully in cash on completion. Ridley has executed a sale agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong based CK Life Sciences Int’l., (Holdings) Inc. (CKLS) which achieves Ridley’s stated objective of unlocking shareholder value for Ridley shareholders by releasing Cheetham from the current Ridley ownership structure. The sale of Cheetham enables Ridley to be positioned as a leading agribusiness with strong potential for future growth focused on the supply of nutrients, ingredients and feed for the safe and sustainable production of food from livestock.
Commenting on the sale, Ridley Chair Mr John Spark said “The decision to sell Cheetham is the culmination of a process announced in February 2012 to identify and evaluate alternative strategies to unlock the underlying value of the Cheetham business. The sale represents a positive outcome for shareholders.” “This sale transforms Ridley into a focused animal nutrients, ingredients and feed producer and provides flexibility to pursue further value accretive growth opportunities which will strengthen Ridley’s position in the sector and enable further participation in industry consolidation.”
Ridley is uniquely positioned as a listed public company with an agricultural business focused on the supply of animal nutrition products and services as well as the production of strategically important ingredients in the protein value chain. CK Life Sciences Int’l., (Holdings) Inc. is a listed company on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
