Pigs
Vion finds buyer for two German locations
Vion has found a buyer for two locations in Southern Germany. It concerns the slaughter and deboning locations in Vilshoven and Landshut. The shares are transferred to Erzeugergemeinschaft Südbayern, which already had a minority interest of 49% in these companies.
The news is not entirely surprising, as the German producers' association from Bavaria had already publicly expressed great interest in these locations. When Vion announced in June that they wanted to completely withdraw from Germany, unrest arose. Livestock farmers were afraid that a foreign party would buy the shares. This has now been prevented. The Vilshofen location has a slaughter capacity of 33,000 pigs, and in Landshut, 650 tons of meat are processed weekly.
The producers' organization has also shown interest in Vion's location in Waldkraiburg, where they have no stake. Whether that interest is still concrete is unknown. Erwin Hochecker, chairman of the producers' association, stated in the press release that they want to supply cattle to that location in the future, which according to German media is the largest cattle slaughterhouse in Europe.
At Vion, they are pleased to have found buyers for two of the 11 locations they plan to divest in total. Allegedly, there is interest in the remaining locations. Vion states that the unsold locations will continue to operate as usual until further decisions are made.
In September, Vion will release the financial results for 2023 along with an update on the further plans.
