Marel has agreed to acquire MAJA, a German food processing equipment manufacturer. The transaction is subject to antitrust approval and customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. The acquisition is in line with Marel’s strategic objective to be a full-line supplier of advanced food processing solutions and standard equipment, and further strengthen Marel’s global market presence.
Since its founding in 1955, MAJA has been a highly innovative manufacturer of food processing machinery, specializing in skinning and portioning with its main focus on the meat market as well as ice machines for the preservation of fresh food. Based in Kehl-Goldscheuer in Germany, MAJA has about 200 employees and annual revenues of roughly EUR30 million (US$35 million) in 2017.
Marel is a leading global provider of advanced processing systems and services to the poultry, meat and fish industries with annual revenues of EUR1,038 million in 2017. Marel invests about 6 percent of revenues in research and development annually, which translated into EUR60 million in 2017. Marel’s full-line approach includes standalone equipment, individual systems and full production lines all controlled and integrated with Innova, Marel’s overarching software solution.
Supporting market penetration and future growth
MAJA’s technological leadership and strong market position is a good fit to Marel’s commitment to innovation and extensive global presence. With MAJA’s innovative product offering and complementary geographical reach, Marel is better positioned to offer full-line solutions for the meat industry globally and advance market penetration. Marel also aims to utilize MAJA’s high-quality innovation and manufacturing site as an addition to existing production sites. MAJA’s experienced management team will stay on board and continue to lead MAJA.
Arni Oddur Thordarson, CEO of Marel, said: “MAJA’s innovative product range is a good fit to Marel and we have great respect for the technical capabilities their dedicated team has built up over the years. We know each other well as MAJA and Sulmaq, Marel’s subsidiary in Brazil, have been partners for years in Latin America. By joining forces and further building on MAJA’s product offering and regional presence, we continue to increase scale to better serve customer needs and drive innovation. This bolt-on acquisition supports Marel in achieving its ambitious goals for future growth and continuing to deliver value for customers.”
Joachim Schill and Reinhard Schill, owners and managing directors, MAJA, said in a joint statement: “Together with Marel and with our high-quality and innovative product portfolio, we believe that we can add more value to our global customers, partners and employees by offering a comprehensive and cutting-edge product and service portfolio. Together we will play an even more important role in the international markets for skinning/derinding, portion control slicing and ice making solutions. For us it´s a strategic and suitable succession solution, being a part of a larger organization also means that our employees will benefit from even more career opportunities.”
