By LU Yaxuan

COFCO Fulinmen, a sub-brand of China’s biggest food business COFCO (China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation), has received investment of 21 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion), the company said Tuesday. 

The amount boosted the valuation of the Fulinmen – the cooking-oil division of the parent company - to 95 billion yuan. Investors included state-owned SOSCO Shipping and China Life Insurance. Existing foreign capital like Temasek Holdings was also on the list of investors. COFCO now holds 69.8 percent of Fulinmen.

Fulinmen’s revenue in 2021 reached 470 billion yuan, contributing 70 percent of the total revenue of parent COFCO. 

Fulinmen rival Jinlongyu Group, owned by Yihai Kerry, posted only 226 billion yuan of revenue in 2021, but occupies over 30 percent of the Chinese market, topping the charts for oil and grain brands.

Fulinmen is expected to be listed this year, the 17th subsidiary of COFCO to go public. It will be the largest IPO by a Chinese food company.