The Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital is examining a bid for Britain's United Biscuits Holdings Ltd and may be teaming up with a corporate buyer, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Beijing-based Hony Capital, which manages more than $6.8 billion, has held informal talks with United Biscuits owners' Blackstone Group and PAI Partners, the report said, citing unidentified sources said. It was not clear if Hony will proceed with an offer, it added.Blackstone and PAI bought United Biscuits for more than 1.6 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in 2006. In 2010 China's Bright Food Group Co failed to purchase United Biscuits, following which United Biscuits split its snacks and biscuits business.United Biscuits, based in Hayes, England, was created in 1948 from the merger of two Scottish companies, McVitie & Price and MacFarlane Lang.Officials with Hony Capital were not reachable for comment while officials at United Biscuits could not be reached for comment.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. Shares of BX traded higher by 0.87% or $0.28/share to $32.35. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $16.83 and as high as $32.83. On average, 4482260 shares of BX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3254724.
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