Plukon Food Group has reached an agreement in principle to acquire the HKScan Denmark subsidiary of HKScan Corporation.
HKScan Denmark, founded in 1952, is a poultry slaughter and processing company that produces consumer packed poultry and high quality ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat poultry products. The company operates a slaughter and cutting facility in Vinderup and a processing plant for cooking, frying and packaging in Skovsgaard. The head office for the operations is located in Aarhus. HKScan Denmark employs around 680 employees and its revenues amounted to approximately EUR230 million (US$247.64 million) for the year 2023.
The proposed purchase price is EUR44.6 million. The transaction is expected to close during 2024 and will be subject to approval by the Danish competition authorities.
Kees Kraijenoord, CEO of the Netherlands-based Plukon Food Group, said: “With the acquisition of HKScan Denmark, we proudly welcome Denmark as our seventh home country. This strategic move not only aligns perfectly with our growth ambitions, but also provides us with the opportunity to expand our market presence for poultry, meals and alternatives throughout the Nordics. It is a great addition to the Plukon Food Group and I look forward to the collaboration with the team.”
Both Plukon and HKScan Denmark specialize in providing a wide range of fresh, frozen and processed poultry products for the retail, foodservice and industry markets in Denmark and across Europe. HKScan Denmark mainly supplies fresh poultry products under its own Rose poultry consumer brand to the retail in Denmark, as well as private label products and frozen products to markets in and outside Denmark, most notably to Sweden.
Plukon continues trend of acquisitions
At the conclusion of 2023, Plukon ranked as the fourth largest poultry producer in Europe and the 19th largest in the world, having slaughtered 462.8 million broilers during the year.
However, Plukon Food Group could rise in those rankings, as this is the fourth acquisition to be announced by Plukon Food Group in 2024 alone. Earlier this year, Plukon announced its intent to acquire Sambau and Redondo, both based in Spain, and Algas SP, based in Poland. Each of those companies are involved in the poultry sector.
In 2023, Plukon acquired a 51% stake in ter Maten. In 2020, Plukon’s acquisitions included VMR, Cuparius Food Group and a 51% stake in Optibrut.
Another divestiture for HKScan
While Plukon Food Group is growing its geographical footprint, HKScan is reducing its, placing more focus on its home country of Finland.
HKScan had earlier announced its intent to divest of HKScan Denmark, saying it had been reviewing “the positioning of its market areas as part of the group’s long-term strategy with a target to grow into a versatile food company.”
The announcement of the pending sale of HKScan Denmark followed a January announcement that HKScan was selling its operations in Sweden to Lantmännen. In 2023, HKScan sold its Baltic businesses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the Maag Grupp of Estonia.
"The sale of the Danish business will continue to strengthen company's balance sheet and allow us to better focus on our remaining businesses. Following the decision to sell the Danish business, the assessment of the group structure has been completed for now. We are strongly Finnish at our core but remain an internationally operating listed company. We will now focus on improving the competitiveness and profitability of our core operations and continue to implement our long-term strategy to become a yet more versatile food company," said HKScan's CEO Juha Ruohola.
Several weeks ago, HKScan announced it is changing its name to HKFoods. The name change is to be introduced after this month, once the new name is registered with the Trade Register.
