Danish Agro expands feed business through Himmerlands deal
The Jutland-based company, which has an annual turnover of €94m (US$110m), has a pig and cattle feed portfolio, and is also a wholesaler of crop protection products and grain.
The agreement awaits the approval of the Danish competition authorities.
The three owners of Himmerlands Grovvarer, Søren Have, Knud Ring and Torben Frederiksen, said they have wanted to step back from the business for some time, and will retire upon finalization of the deal.
All divisions and all Himmerlands employees are to be transferred to Danish Agro. The Jutland group has 50 employees across five departments in Aars, Skals, Rostrup, Skalmstrup and Aarhus.
In terms of what was appealing about Himmerlands for Danish Agro, Søren Møgelvang Nielsen, group spokesperson, said the Jutland company is a well-managed Danish agribusiness with dedicated employees and a strong customer base. It is well established as a feed supplier to farmers in Himmerland in the Jutland region, and its operations and company culture align with those of Danish Agro.
Process optimization
Danish Agro will move to ensure greater process optimization at Himmerlands, particularly those processes related to feed production, to enable it to exploit capacity even further, Møgelvang Nielsen told FeedNavigator.
The Danish Agro group, which consists of a number of agro-industrial companies in Denmark and abroad, has around 5,000 employees and budgeted revenue in 2020 of about DKK 35bn (US$5.5bn).
Feed deals
In terns of other feed related deals for Danish Agro, February this year saw it signing an accord with Vestjyllands Andel that gave it full ownership of feed and crop protection provider, Hedegaard. In 2018, a subsidiary, Baltic Agro Latvia, acquired 60% of the shares in the Latvian agribusiness and specialist feed firm, Tukuma Straume.
The company outlined how Danish agriculture has experienced strong structural development over the last few years, resulting in fewer and bigger farms and the agribusiness sector having to adapt accordingly.
“Acquisitions, growth and synergies have been in focus in a process resulting in the most efficient and strongest agribusiness specialists able to service Danish agriculture. Danish Agro has been at the forefront of this structural process and together with Hedegaard now accounts for a market share of approximately 34%.”
