July 22, 2013

Ceva Santé Animale and Sichuan Hengtong Animal Pharmacy Co. have signed an international partnership agreement, resulting in the birth of Ceva Hengtong, which will offer a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products and services to improve the production of swine and poultry in China.

More than a quarter of global meat production is now consumed in China. With the country's demographic growth and improvement of living standards, this consumption will continue to grow, particularly that of pork and chicken.

Chinese livestock production will therefore continue to rise, bringing strong demand for veterinary pharmaceuticals. Ceva Santé Animale and Sichuan Hengtong Animal Pharmacy have set up the joint venture - Ceva Hengtong to meet this demand.

Faced with a livestock market which remains highly fragmented in China (60% of farmers have fewer than 50 head of sows), Ceva Hengtong will focus on the poultry and swine segments, providing these businesses with the services they need in order to improve efficiency.

Ceva Santé Animale, a global veterinary group based in Aquitaine, France (Libourne), will own 55% of the shares in Ceva Hengtong; while Sichuan Hengtong Animal Pharmacy, a veterinary company in Sichuan (Neijiang, China), 45%. Liang Guo, current CEO and the largest shareholder of Sichuan Hengtong Animal Pharmacy, will be appointed managing director of the joint venture. The new company will continue to be based in Neijiang but will relocate to a purpose-built new facility in Sichuan, meeting all international quality standards by 2015. Ceva Santé Animale will import certain products made in France (Libourne) and will benefit from the sales networks of Ceva Hengtong to distribute them.

Marc Prikazsky, Chairman & CEO of Ceva Santé Animale, commented, "Together is an important word in Ceva's vision, together, beyond animal health. There can be no bigger challenge than feeding China's rapidly growing urban population; that's why we had to find the right partner locally to help us reach out to country's livestock producers. Together we will be stronger and together we will help bring high-quality animal protein (pork and poultry) to the Chinese people."