August 30, 2007

Cherkizovo acquires Chicken Kingdom to claim top spot in Russia

Russia's Cherkizovo has acquired Chicken Kingdom to become the country's biggest poultry producer, the company said on Wednesday (Aug 29).

Cherkizovo, which raised US$250 million listing shares in London last year, said in a statement it paid US$143 million for Russia's Chicken Kingdom.

CEO Sergey Mikhailov said the company would drive further growth in Russia's chicken industry. Russia has targeted animal breeding as one of its priority projects for growth.

Domestic production of poultry last year accounted for about 53 percent of Russia's poultry meat consumption, reducing the country's reliance on exports.

Russia used to export 75 percent of its chicken meat from the US.

Chicken Kingdom expects to ramp up production 25 percent to 100,000 tonnes by the end of the year.