Thai CPF continues expansion with €49.5m SuperDrob stake
The investment will help finance a number of SuperDrob projects, including plans to build a new meat processing facility in Koluszki, central Poland.
The move comes less than two weeks after CPF acquired US frozen food manufacturer Bellisio Foods in massive $1.075bn (€1.03bn) takeover, which CPF described as a “breakthrough”.
Senior representatives at SuperDrob said the meat processor aims to expand its product portfolio and launch a number of investments at its facilities in Poland.
New products, acquisition plans
“The cooperation between SuperDrob and CPF is a major opportunity for our company," said Jarosław Kowalewski, deputy president for strategy at SuperDrob, as reported by local business daily Rzeczpospolita. “This will enable us to raise our processing capacity, and we will be able to offer new products on the market. We will expand our range of products, we will integrate production and logistics processes.”
According to Kowalewski, SuperDrob wants to take over local meat companies with the capital generated by the Thai investment.
“We hope that we will be able to actively participate in the consolidation of the Polish meat industry,” said Kowalewski.
“CPF’s board of directors considered that entry into the transaction was reasonable and to the benefit of CPF and its shareholders because Poland has vast resources and potential, low-cost production, and is a leader in exporting poultry products to the European market,” CPF said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). “CPF’s investment in SuperDrob will help CPF to expand its production base to serve the European market.”
The deal is estimated to be worth some €49.5m. The Lipków family will continue to hold a majority stake in SuperDrob.
Investment strategy
Last year, SuperDrob unveiled plans to invest at least PLN200m (€45.4m) to increase its output capacity, build a new processing plant and boost its sales. SuperDrob has also launched an investment to expand the slaughtering capacity of its facility in Karczew, in central Poland, from 7,500 to 10,000 head per hour.
Set up in 1993, SuperDrob has a total workforce of more than 2,000 employees, and owns three plants in Poland. The company says its facilities are HACCP- and BRC-certified, and it is the seventh-largest poultry meat processor in the Polish market. SuperDrob’s product range consists of hams, strips, fillets, sausages, rolls and other processed poultry meat products. The firm exports its output to a number of EU member states, including the UK, Ireland, France and Germany, as well as to Switzerland and China. Since 2016, the company has also been developing its presence in Belgium, Greece and Cyprus.
Export sales generate more than 50% of SuperDrob’s revenues, according to data from the meat processor.
CPF claims to be the leading agro-industrial and food conglomerate in the Asia-Pacific region, with operations in the livestock, aquaculture and food processing sectors. In 2015, the group posted revenues of about THB421.35bn (€11.16bn).