Plukon Food Group to become majority owner of Optibrut

Plukon Food Group, the largest poultry company in the Netherlands, will acquire 51% of German hatchery company Optibrut.

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Plukon Food Group has entered an agreement to purchase a 51% stake in Optibrut, which operates a hatchery in the outskirts of Nordhorn, northwest Germany. (Mark Clements)
Plukon Food Group has entered an agreement to purchase a 51% stake in Optibrut, which operates a hatchery in the outskirts of Nordhorn, northwest Germany. (Mark Clements)

Plukon Food Group, the largest poultry company in the Netherlands, will acquire 51% of German hatchery company Optibrut.

The two companies reached an agreement in principle for the transaction, and the planned acquisition was announced on September 1.

According to a press release from Plukon, the integration of Optibrut within Plukon is part of the joint desire to further deepen the quality and cooperation in the supply chain together with poultry farmers. With the 2017 acquisition of DUC in France, and the acquisition of VMR in Spain earlier in 2020, Plukon has already acquired hatcheries within its ranks. As a result of these experiences, Plukon grew the desire to apply the advantages of a further integrated chain approach with early nutrition in other countries where the company is active.

Optibrut’s hatchery is located in the outskirts of Nordhorn, Germany, was built in 2017. It is one of the most modern hatcheries in western Europe, and Optibrut has been an important strategic partner of Plukon since its inception.

Optibrut supplies day-old chicks, mainly for the Dutch and German markets, both to broiler farmers who supply Plukon and to third parties. The use of early feeding and the control of the entire parent animal chain, partly in-house, are important reasons for the acquisition.

Plukon expects early nutrition to become the standard in the Netherlands and Germany in the coming years. With the takeover of Optibrut, a major step has been taken towards achieving this goal.

Optibrut already has good experience with an integrated approach to rearing parents, breeding farms under its own management and under the direction of delivery of day-old chicks with early nutrition to broiler farmers, according to a statement from Plukon. Both parties are therefore looking forward to sharing this knowledge and experience with a common focus, to take valuable further steps to improve chain efficiency, sustainability and animal welfare, which should ultimately result in a better end product for consumers.

The current shareholders of Optibrut -- Hans Groot Koerkamp and Klas Knol -- will continue to lead the joint venture and looks forward to further long-term cooperation.

Plukon Food Group, according to the Poultry International Top Companies survey, slaughtered 426.4 million broilers in 2018. It is the largest poultry company in the Netherlands and the second largest in Europe.

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