According to the Sunday Times of London, the Thai firm is up against private equity investors including Blackstone and BC Partners after first-round bids in the sale process were lodged on Friday, May 11.
CP Foods, which is Thailand's biggest food producer with annual sales of about £6 billion, already has sizeable operations in Britain. Its main office is near Kidderminster and it has a factory at Newmarket, where it makes own-label food for supermarkets including Tesco.
It is thought that CP is keen to expand Birds Eye in Asia and eastern Europe, where the frozen food market is smaller. The Times said CP may team up with another private equity firm in order to make an offer for all of Birds Eye, which also includes Iglo operations in Europe.
Besides Blackstone and BC Partners, according to Reuters, first-round bidders for Birds Eye include Bain Capital and PAI Partners. Clayton Dubilier & Rice is also said to have submitted its bid and Iglo has attracted interest from trade buyers, bankers told the news agency.
