AB Linas Agro Group announced plans to acquire shares in four Latvian poultry companies at a cost of 12.5 million euros. The core business of the companies is poultry and broiler breeding.
The company has signed agreements to acquire 87 percent of shares in AS Putnu fabrika Kekava; and 100 percent of shares in SIA Broileks, SIA Cerova and SIA Lielzeltini. The deal is subject to review by the Competition Council of the Republic of Latvia. The transaction is expected to close by December 2013.
"We believe that poultry farming is a growing, viable and profitable industry even though the target companies are in need of restructuring," said Andrius Pranckevičius, deputy managing director of AB Linas Agro Group. "We see the opportunity to expand and diversify our activities by adding higher value-added products.
"A vertical integration will be implemented in acquired companies — feed production, eggs hatching and raising, slaughter and meat processing. Furthermore, the activities carried out by Latvian companies have a lot of synergy with the current activities of AB Linas Agro Group. We sell around 1.5 million tons of grains and feedstuffs per year, will forward some of the quantities to feed production in Latvia," he added.
AB Linas Agro Group is an agribusiness parent company that produces and trades grains, oilseeds, feed and agricultural inputs. It owns companies in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Denmark.
