The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), owner of Daybreak Foods, has supported the decision by Daybreak’s board to place the poultry producer into business rescue.
Business rescue is a process in which the company is protected against creditors while business rescue practitioners try to revive the business and prevent it from being liquidated.
Daybreak, formerly South Africa’s fifth largest poultry producer, hit the headlines earlier this month when animal welfare was called in to cull thousands of starving chickens because the company could not afford to buy poultry feed or pay staff salaries.
The PIC subsequently approved the injection of R74 million in working capital to address the company’s immediate needs. The PIC is Africa’s largest fund manager and invests on behalf of government pension funds.
“The PIC, a major creditor and shareholder of Daybreak Foods, is of the firm belief that the company can be rescued and must be rescued,” it said in a statement.
It believed that business rescue “is the best path to preserve the company’s value and potential, saving approximately 3000 jobs, and importantly, to realise returns for clients and their beneficiaries on their investment”.
