German meat processors to merge operations
The merger will create Germany's second largest meat processing company with an annual turnover of over €700m.
The owners, Kühnl and Reinert, will each hold 50% of the shares in the newly founded company, which Dr. Ing. Wolfgang Kühnl and Hans-Ewald Reinert will act as managing partners. The new company will comprise nine production sites with 2,600 employees.
The proposed merger is expected to be completed at the end of the year subject to an antitrust review.
The business is to offer its customers a wide range of entry-level products, including premium branded products, and will combine Reinert's expertise as a brand manufacturer and Kemper as a private label specialist.
In a statement announcing the merger, the businesses said the new company “aims for a prominent role in the industry as a cost and innovation leader and sees itself as a catalyst in the process of change in the meat and sausage industry”.
“We are challenged to find answers to the challenges in the sausage and meat industry. Our merger creates a strong company with sustainable competitiveness. We are thus prepared for the demands of the future,” said Hans-Ewald Reinert.
Dr. Wolfgang Kühnl added: “We remain a family-owned company with a clear, long-term orientation and trust-oriented value orientation. And we know about our responsibility for sustainable business and the reliability of our employees and customers.”
