GIC into margarine? And teaming up with Jack Ma?

FT reported on Friday that on Thursday, KKR, the giant US buyout firm, and GIC were reportedly coming together to pursue a £6bn bid for Unilever’s spreads business which includes brands such as Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. “KKR and Unilever declined to comment. GIC didn’t respond to a request for comment.”

Unilever wants to sell its spread business to focus on foods products with better margins.

Other private equity groups are planning to bid but I’m sure that TRE cybernuts will say that this is another bad move.

Then there’s a deal involving Jack Ma.

Yunfeng Financial Group backed by Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma (via Ant group), agreed to buy the Asian unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co which offers death benefits and annuities.

The buyer will pay HK$13 billion (US$1.7 billion) for Hong Kong-based MassMutual Asia Ltd, with about 60 per cent of that sum in cash, and the rest in Yunfeng stock, the seller said on Thursday in a statement. GIC and Ma’s Ant group are also buying into the deal.