Pork-Ex France is a small pig breeding company, employing 10 staff, based in the north-western city of Pacé, Brittany.
It was bought by Genesus to give the Canadian pig genetics outfit better access to the EU market, which is home to around 150 million pigs, according to Eurostat.
Genesus, based in Manitoba, Canada, is a pig breeder and genetics specialist and claims to have one of the largest pedigree pure-bred swine herds in the world.
Prior to the takeover, it had worked alongside Pork-Ex for over a year, collaborating on swine genetics in an attempt to make inroads into Europe’s huge, albeit currently declining, pig industry.
During the year Genesus worked with Pork-Ex, it “became clear” that the business needed to launch a takeover of the firm’s French subsidiary, Pork-Ex France, to secure “even better access” to Europe, Genesus said in a statement.
The recently-acquired French outfit will now trade as Genesus SARL.
“[This takeover] will give Genesus a further base in Europe through which we can create a strong European presence and get closer to the local market and customers,” the business said.
“With our existing, successful team in Europe and now having the French team join, we can build a strong Genesus Europe team and keep developing sales and production.”
Genesus SARL, formally Pork-Ex France, could not be reached to comment on this story.
Who is Genesus Inc?
The business claims to be the “world leader” in producing prolific gilts – young female pigs – from the world’s largest pure-bred pedigree herd. It then sells these pigs to farmers in Asia, Europe, North and South America to help them produce large, fast-growing litters of pigs.