Danish Agro and Vestjyllands Andel to divest their agribusiness and logistics activities in Saxony, Germany
16/11/2016
Danish Agro and Vestjyllands Andel jointly own German agribusiness specialist Ceravis AG with German agribusiness group Agravis, and are to divest their agribusiness and logistics activities in Saxony, Germany.
The move will mean that Ceravis AG will only be represented in the northern and eastern states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The buyer is Agravis, already represented in Saxony.
Danish Agro's CEO, Christian Junker, commented:
"The sale of Ceravis AG's branches in Saxony is part of our strategy in Germany, which calls for presence in depth in northern Germany. We have no intention of trying to cover the entire country, as a strong presence in northern Germany will let us make best use of a number of synergies, and will make us overall a stronger partner for German farmers in the region. The move also fits in well with the Danish Agro group's overall Baltic strategy," he states before continuing:
"To streamline the structure as much as possible, we took over three Agravis subsidiaries in northern Germany on 1 January 2016 – FUGEMA Futtermittel- und Getreidehandelsgesellschaft GmbH, Raiffeisen Mölln GmbH and Raiffeisen-Zentrum-Idstedt GmbH. The structural development of German agriculture is proceeding rapidly, and we need to be focused and efficient to be able to supply the products and services in demand at the right prices. Ceravis AG now has a very strong position on the north German market, and Agravis will be able to bolster its position in southern German as a result of the move, which makes a lot of sense overall," he says.
The sale concerns Ceravis Sachsen GmbH's six branches, plus Agrar Cargo GmbH, a small logistics company, as from 1 January 2017. The activities sold represent turnover of around DKK 500 million, and employ around 50 people.
The sale is contingent on approval from the German authorities.