According to the Shanghai Daily, the company will issue an initial public offering (IPO) of 310 million shares with the aim of raising HK$930m (€86.2m), said Cazenove Asia, the company that is arranging the sale.

The sale is likely to gather a lot of interest from foreign investors, all eager to grab a foothold in China's burgeoning meat market.

Cazenove Asia yesterday declined to talk to AP-FoodTechnology.com.

This money will then be used to expand the company's processed food operations, which accounted for only six per cent of DaChan Food's annual income in 2006. In contrast, 59 per cent of the company's revenue came from the production of chicken meat, the newspaper said.

According to FinanceAsia.com, the price of the shares will be between HK$2.20 (€0.2) and HK$3.0 (€0.3) per share.

Of the total, 19.4 per cent are existing shares sold by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

DaChan food is the exclusive sourcing agent for McDonald's in China, as well supplying KFC with a third of all its meat in the country. The company is the largest processed food exporter for Ito-Yokado and 7-Eleven in Japan, and exports animal feed products to Malaysia and Vietnam.

DaChan's net profits are projected to surge 77 per cent to hit HK$23.6m (€2.2m) this year, and $27.7m (€2.6m) in 2008, FinanceAsia.com said.

Last year, the manufacturer recorded a net profit of HK$13.4m (€1.3m), which was up from HK$2.6m (€300,000) in 2004.

According to Deutsche Bank, shares of Asian food producers are the "ultimate play", because rising wealth in Asia is set to increase demand for livestock and the grains to feed the animals.

"At the end of the day, there are more mouths to feed in the emerging markets than anywhere else," said Mark Jolley, Asian equity strategist for Deutsche Bank.

The price of copper is up 14 per cent this year, while oil prices increased by 17 per cent, less than the 24 percent gain in soybeans and 47 percent increase in wheat.