De Heus makes huge acquisition in Vietnam

De Heus takes over the Vietnamese feed company Masan. With the takeover, De Heus will transfer thirteen compound feed factories and one premix factory in one fell swoop, good for an annual production of 4 million tons. The management is pleased with the acquisition and speaks of a great milestone in the company's history.

The merger of Masan and the current Vietnamese activities of De Heus will create the largest feed company on the independent animal feed market in Vietnam. The volume that De Heus takes over is large. By way of comparison: 4 million tons is about a third of the Dutch compound feed production in a year.

Third in Dutch compound feed market
As part of the agreement, De Heus and Masan entered into several long-term contracts for the supply of pig and cattle feeds. Masan also produces feeds for poultry and aqua. In the latter branch in particular, De Heus is already big in Vietnam. The acquisition is in line with De Heus' ambition to further focus as a chain partner on offering high-quality animal feed products, genetics and management solutions in the Vietnamese market.

De Heus will not disclose the amount involved in the takeover. Bloomberg news agency reported in May that Masan wanted $1 billion for the animal feed business, which was then publicly put up for sale.

Own animal husbandry activities

De Heus' animal feed activities in Vietnam partly support its own (integration) activities in the production of poultry and pigs. To this end, the company works together with Belgabroed and Topigs, among others, who supply genetic material. No live animals are exported from the Netherlands to Vietnam, but De Heus does have hatcheries and rearing companies there, for example. De Heus is also making great progress in other Southeast Asian countries.

The activities of De Heus are growing steadily. Earlier this year, De Heus announced that it would acquire Coppens in the Netherlands. Last year, acquisitions were made in Poland, Indonesia and Brazil.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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