Company news in brief

PepsiCo offers to buy SA's Pioneer FoodsPepsiCo has made a US$1.7 billion offer to buy South Africa's Pioneer Food Group the companies said on Friday, boosting the target's shares by nearly 30%.The US drinks and snack group said Pioneer Food's product portfolio was complementary and would help PepsiCo to expand in Sub-Saharan Africa by boosting its manufacturing and distribution capabilities.PepsiCo offered R110 (US$7.94) per Pioneer Foods ordinary share, the companies said, with the news lifting the South African company's shares by 28.8% to almost R100.“Pioneer Foods forms an important part of our strategy to not only expand in South Africa, but further into Sub-Saharan Africa as well,” PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.Pioneer Foods, which has brands ranging from drinks to grain products such as Weet-Bix and Liqui-Fruit, exports to more than 80 countries. – Nampa/ReutersBarrick set to take full control of AcaciaBarrick Gold Corp has struck a deal to buy out fellow shareholders in Acacia Mining after raising its offer to end a two-month standoff between the world's second biggest gold miner and its African unit.Barrick spun off Acacia in 2010, but still owns a 64% stake and said earlier this year it wanted to take back full control as it sought to resolve a protracted dispute between Acacia and Tanzania over valuable mining assets.Barrick is now offering 0.168 of its own shares for every Acacia share, worth about 232 pence per share and valuing the whole of Acacia at 951 million pounds (US$1.2 billion).In addition, minority Acacia shareholders could get special dividends on Acacia exploration properties, which would add another 9 pence per share, making a total of 241 pence.Barrick first made an offer to buy out other Acacia shareholders in May, worth 193 pence per share. – Nampa/ReutersDebt-laden AB InBev agrees sale of Australian unitAnheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, has agreed to sell its Australian operations to Japan's Asahi and is interested in reviving the stalled flotation of its Asian business.The Belgium-based brewer, weighed down by debt after its 2016 acquisition of closest rival SABMiller, said on Friday it had agreed to divest Australian subsidiary Carlton & United Breweries for A$16 billion (US$11.3 billion) in enterprise value.AB InBev said the bulk of the proceeds from the deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, would be used to reduce debt.The sale comes only a week after AB InBev shelved an initial public offering (IPO) of its Asian operations, including Australia. The company said factors, including market conditions, had stalled its plans to sell off 15% of its Asian business.What could have been the largest flotation globally this year, raising up to US$9.8 billion for the brewer, ended up being the third-largest ever to be withdrawn. Sources close to the deal said investors had baulked at the price. – Nampa/ReutersRenault to build, sell autos in NigeriaFrench car giant Renault plans to assemble two low-cost vehicles in Nigeria via a joint venture with the local conglomerate Coscharis, a Renault statement said Thursday.Renault, which claims an 18% share of the African auto market, wants to “respond to the demand of the new emerging middle class of the countries like Nigeria,” which has a population of more than 200 million people, the statement said.The Logan and Duster models are to “be assembled in the existing Coscharis assembly facility in Lagos starting October 2019,” Renault said.Coscharis is active in several sectors of the Nigerian economy, including autos, information technologies, logistics, agriculture, food, real-estate and health.The French group already has a strong presence in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa. – Nampa/AFPArcelorMittal's Ukraine mill searched by security serviceThe Ukrainian arm of the world's biggest steelmaker said on Saturday that the state security service had searched its plant in Kryvyi Rih, a week after new Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticised the management.ArcelorMittal has invested about US$9 billion in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's largest steel mill, which is now under close government scrutiny.Zelenskiy, whose party will fight for control over parliament at an election last Sunday, visited his hometown Kryvyi Rih, 350 km southeast of Kiev, last week.He called environmental conditions in the town “the biggest ecological problem” in Ukraine and asked ArcelorMittal's officials at a public meeting why the number of cancer patients in the area “should depend on their strategic plans”.The security service said earlier last week that it had launched an investigation into officials of one of the companies in Kryvyi Rih, whose activities caused damage to the environment, without giving the name of the company. – Nampa/Reuters

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