Mainland Poultry co-founder Michael Guthrie took some money off the table with the sale of the South Island egg empire to Navis Capital’s Asia Fund VII last year but his residual stake has plenty of upside as the new partners invest in growth.
The Navis deal reportedly valued Mainland at about $350 million, implying a value for Mr Guthrie’s 76.6% stake of about $268m.
However, under the deal, Mr Guthrie has retained 14.5% of the business alongside Navis through holding company Indus Valley.
When the deal was announced Navis said the aim was “to transform Mainland into the pre-eminent agribusiness in the Oceania region with strong export linkages into Asia” and investment of $40-80m was planned to phase out battery cages.
Down the track Mr Guthrie, who remains a Mainland director, may be setting up another liquidity event, telling BusinessDesk: “I think Mainland could well be listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in the future.”
If so, it would probably attract a lot of investor interest. Mainland’s egg division, Zeagold, is the largest egg producer in New Zealand, producing 36 million dozen egg equivalents a year. Feeds division Mainfeeds supplies 140,000 tonnes of feed a year to Zeagold and external customers.
Outside his poultry business Mr Guthrie has property interests, mainly in Wanaka where he has been developing sections in upmarket Beacon Point Rd.
He also owns adjacent homes in Dunedin and a holiday home in Wanaka.