December 10, 2015

De Heus buys Spanish-Portuguese feed miller Nuter

Royal De Heus has signed an agreement for the complete takeover of the Spanish-Portuguese compound feed company Nuter.

Nuter was previously held by a consortium of financial investors. With a volume of one million tonnes of compound feed annually, Nuter has a leading position on the Spanish-Portuguese open feed market. Nuter's acquisition is consistent with De Heus' strategy to grow its international animal feed operations.

The total size of the Iberian feed market is approximately 25 million tonnes, of which approximately 10 million tonnes is traded on the open feed market. Private companies and cooperatives sell feed to independent livestock farmers on this open feed market. Approximately 15 million tonnes are produced within integrated chains. Nuter is exclusively focused on the open market in which it occupies second position.

Nuter has twelve geographically-distributed production sites, strategically located in relation to the most important livestock farming areas. The company offers a complete range of compound feeds for multiple species, including cattle (meat and milk), poultry, pigs, rabbits, sheep and goats. In Portugal, Nuter operates under the name Saprogal. The key brands in Spain are Biona and Passaranda.

Specialised animal feed knowledge related to all livestock will be shared and further developed through means of De Heus' international network and expertise centre. This provides Nuter with the opportunity to enrich its knowledge in the area of nutrition, and also in the area of livestock farming, production technology and automation. This is expected to accelerate and improve product innovation, the advice provided to customers and optimise production processes.

Co de Heus, CEO of Royal De Heus, says, "Nuter is a successful well-managed enterprise. Like De Heus, it is focused on compound feeds for the free independent livestock farmer. Because our activities and market approach are highly consistent, we complement each other well. Having De Heus as a strategic shareholder over the long-term can only strengthen Nuter. In turn, De Heus will benefit from Nuter's knowledge and experience, for example, in the area of meat cattle, sheep and goats, or through means of the deployment of Spanish and Portuguese professionals in Latin America."

"With this acquisition in the large Iberian animal feed market, we not only strengthen our country portfolio, but due to our common currency, we also increase its stability," adds Co de Heus.

Nuter will continue to be managed by the current management team.

Co de Heus points out, "De Heus wasn't active in Spain and Portugal. In past years, Nuter's current management team has operated independently and has performed very well in a challenging market. We are therefore looking forward to a productive partnership with the existing team. Furthermore, De Heus generally holds the view that local business units should be managed by local professionals. They know the market better than anyone, feel at home in their own country, speak the language and understand the culture."