Acquisition in the French poultry industry

LDC, the French poultry specialist has just acquired 85 percent of its competitor Guillot-Cobreda and is still negotiating to buy the rest, Les Echos​ reports. The French number two in the poultry industry is thereby setting its sight on its 28th industrial plant. The company claims this move will increase its presence in the Rhone-Alpes region. Based in Saone-et-Loire, Guillot-Cobreda - a producer of Bourgogne and Bresse poultry - has a turnover of FF105M (Euro16.01M) and 86 employees. The production plant and abattoir are situated 20km away from the saturated LDC-Bourgogne plant. "Production will be specialised in the 2 plants to increase capacity,"​ says Denis Lambert, CEO of LDC. 5,000 pieces a week​ Guillot-Cobreda will be in charge of the top of the line range and will become the principal French abattoir for Bresse's poultry, with about 5,000 pieces a week. From now on, LDC-Bourgogne (turnover FF1Bn, 700 employees) will work for the large and medium distribution networks with the "Le Gaulois" products. "This new organisation will enable us to reduce costs, increase volumes and to be stronger in Rhone-Alpes, Provence-Côte d'Azur and in exports to Switzerland and Italy,"​ affirms Denis Lambert. The group now has a work force of 6,350 with a FY2000-2001 turnover of about FF6.7Bn. Profitability should "come back to a normal level,"​ after last year's result dropped by 10 percent to FF157M, Lambert concluded. Source: Les Echos​