Investing.com -- Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) is planning to sell its poultry business in China, according to three unnamed sources quoted by Reuters, making it one of a string of foreign firms who have been looking to reduce their operations in the country.
It was not yet clear how much the unit would be valued at, although one of the sources with knowledge of the situation said it has annual sales of around $1.1 billion, Reuters noted. Goldman Sachs has been hired to advise on the sale, the news agency added.
The report comes after Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, which sells meat and processed foods, vowed to slash costs after revenue and profit in its third quarter missed estimates. However, Reuters said that the sources did not explain why Tyson Foods is targeting divesting the Chinese poultry division.
Many multinational businesses have been looking to sell or pare back their Chinese assets, a trend that analysts cited Reuters said is due to a weak post-pandemic recovery, fierce domestic competition, and broader geopolitical tensions threatening profits. U.S. agricultural group Cargill and British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RKT) are among the biggest names to sell off divisions in China since 2021.
Tyson Foods' first factory in China was opened in 2001. It now has dozens of breeding farms as well as several processing plants and four research centers in the country, the company's website showed.
Shares in Tyson Foods were slightly higher in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday.