Set to be finalised in the second quarter of 2019, De Heus said the deal marked a “strategic step” in the Ukraine market for animal feed.
The move also aligns with De Heus’ strategy to build up leading market positions in countries, such as Ukraine, where animal feed is expected to grow strongly over the coming years.
As part of the joint venture, De Heus and D-Mix will share knowledge to improve the quality of animal feed, accelerate innovation and optimise production processes.
Royal De Heus’ CEO Koen de Heus said Koudijs Ukraine had a bright future.
“For many years, we have continued to invest to improve our technical support to customers,” said de Heus. “We believe that our extensive experience in international livestock farming and the animal feed sector will also be of value in further professionalising livestock farming in Ukraine.”
Described as having a “strong regional position”, family-owned D-Mix is located in Zolochiv in Western Ukraine and produces concentrates, speciality feeds and complete feeds. D-Mix has a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes and revealed that, as part of the venture, it would be constructing a premix factory, which is expected to be operational by 2020.
Commenting on the joint venture, D-Mix’s chief business development officer Fedir Shopsky said De Heus was the best partner to expand its growing customer base and offer export support for livestock farms.
“I believe that the knowledge and long-term vision of De Heus will contribute a lot to the rapid growth of our joint business and, together, we will go straight forward to the next development phase,” said Shopsky.