Private equity buys most of Ingham Enterprises; CEO keeps job

The private equity company, TPG Capital, has bought the chicken business of Ingham Enterprises for a reported $880 million, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Although the new owner is planning to shift the company’s product range upmarket, with high-margin free-range chicken, the current chief, Terry McBain will keep his job.

The deal – in which the Ingham family retains its racing business – values the chicken business at $1 billion, the stated value in the view of its owner, Bob Ingham, who built the business with his late brother, Jack, after inheriting it as a backyard operation from their father.

Bob Ingham’s personal fortune is estimated at $1.5 billion by BRW magazine. The company’s forecast profit for the 2012-13 year will be $210 million. It produces one in every three chickens sold in Australia.