Scandinavian meat and poultry company Atria sold its plant in Malmö, Sweden, with the transaction taking effect on April 26.
The company announced the divestiture of the property in a press release, but it did not disclose the identity of the buyer. However, the company did reveal that the property sold for about EUR22 million. (US$23.2 million)
Atria will continue to operate out of the facility throughout the remainder of 2022 and production will close at some point in 2023.
The sale of the plant follows an earlier announcement that Atria would consolidate the operations at the Malmö plant into its plant in Sköllersta. In May 2021, Atria stated that it would invest EUR30 million in a restructuring, and that restructuring would include the expansion of the Sköllersta plant, as well as the purchase of new equipment for the Sköllersta facility.
At the time, Atria explained that by centralizing production to fewer plants, it could better ensure its future competitiveness with more efficient production and logistics with a lower climate footprint.
When the company initially announced its plans to cease production in Malmö, there were about 160 people employed there.
The divestiture of Atria’s Malmö plant follows its 2021 sale of Russian subsidiary Pit-Product to Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat and poultry producer. Earlier this year, Atria also announced that it was exiting the fast food business in Russia, with CEO Juha Gröhn saying, “Due to the changed geopolitical situation, we do not have any possibilities to continue operations in Russia.”
The company said its fast food business in Russia only amounted to about 1.5% of plthe company’s sales, and that the exit from that business would not be “financially significant” to the company or its shareholders.
According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, Atria has 18 locations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia.
