Bright Food will pay £720m to acquire 60% controlling stake in Weetabix from UK private equity firm Lion Capital. This deal values Weetabix at £1.2bn, including debt. Lion Capital and Weetabix management will hold a 40% stake in Weetabix.
The transaction, which is subject to Chinese regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2012.
Bright Foods was advised by banking group Rothschild and lawyers Linklaters over the deal.
If this acquisition is closed, it would mark Bright Food's first successful transaction since buying 75% stake in Australian food company Manassen Foods for $556m.
Weetabix was bought by Lion Capital in 2003 for £642m and is the second largest manufacturer of breakfast cereals and cereal bars in the UK, holding a 7% share of the country's total cereals market.
Headquartered in Kettering, UK, the company has presence in around 80 countries around the world including North America, South Africa, Germany and Spain and owns other brands such as Alpen, Ready Brek and Oatibix.
In 2010, the company reported revenues of £449m and pre-tax profit of £20.4m.
