Russian poultry market completes largest acquisition
Russian agricultural holding White Bird has completed the acquisition of the assets of the bankrupt poultry producer, Optifood, according to the vice-governor of the Rostov Oblast, Sergey Gorban.
In the opinion of most experts this deal will be important for the industry as it will create a new ‘largest’ player on the country’s market.
“The deal was closed on September 25, the day when the parties signed the financial documents,” said Gorban. According to him, the new investor took all obligations provided by the agreement – in particular to construct a feed plant with a capacity of not less than 120,000 tonnes per year, and invest at least RUB 2 bn (US$65 million) in launching production at the assets of Optifood.
Optifood went bankrupt in 2012, due to the large debt burden and lack of turnover funds. The company has been one of the largest producers of poultry in southern Russia, with the total capacity of 85,000 tonnes of poultry production per year.
White Bird owns several agricultural assets in Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts. With the acquisition of Optifood, White Bird will enter the list of the top-four players of the Russian poultry market after Cherkizovo, BEZRK Belgrankorm and HAP Resource. The total production capacity of the company will now be close to 200,000 tonnes of poultry and 92 million eggs per year.
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