Dutch meat giants talk about a merger

The Dutch meat giants Zwanenberg Food Group and the Van Drie Group are in talks about a merger. Zwanenberg is emphatically beckoning to a merger with soup and sauce manufacturer Struik, of which Van Drie is a major shareholder. The aim of the merger is to create a better negotiating position with retail, such as supermarkets.

This reports The Telegraph. An additional effect is that with a merger, Zwanenberg and Struik also acquire a better purchasing position for themselves in meat from slaughterhouses, such as Vion. According to the newspaper, the deal has not been completed and the talks are still ongoing.

Both Zwanenberg, owned by the Van der Laan family, and the Van Drie Group are family businesses. Because the talks are still ongoing, it is not clear how the cooperation will take concrete shape. Van Drie can sell Struik to Zwanenberg, but may also continue to participate as a shareholder after the transaction.

Financially tough weather
Three years ago, the Van Drie Group, active in the processing and sale of veal, bought a majority interest in Struik, which was in dire financial straits at the time. So far, the group has not succeeded in helping Struik completely recover, De Telegraaf reports. However, Zwanenberg, a producer of mainly non-perishable meat products such as chicken liver sausage, sees opportunities in Struik to achieve economies of scale in the meat chain.

This is necessary, the newspaper analyzes, because on the one hand customers such as supermarket chains are getting bigger and on the other hand suppliers of glass, packaging and other raw materials, for example, are also growing through mergers and acquisitions. The combination of Zwanenberg and Struik can, if the companies are well integrated, according to De Telegraaf, be a prelude to more mergers in the industry.

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