Vion beefs up stake in cattle hide firm

Vion acquired a fifth of the shares in BestHides on 15 January 2018 and paid an undisclosed sum to increase its stake in the business.

Premium hide supplier BestHides operates in Wasserbruck, southern Germany, and produces beef hides derived from calves and heifers.
The company began trading in the 1980s and has established itself as a key supplier of chilled and wet salted cattle and calfskin hides in Europe. Since 2014, Vion Food Group and US-based Darling Ingredients jointly owned BestHides.
“Vion valorises all parts of the animals in the best possible way,​” said Bernd Stange, chief operating officer for Vion’s beef division.

Stange, Vion’s number three, behind Joost Sliepenbeek, CFO, and Francis Kint, CEO, added acquiring a controlling stake in BestHides “fits perfectly with Vion’s strategy to strengthen the beef division​”.

Vion said the deal would see it fully consolidate BestHides later this year.
Darling Ingredients could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

Separately, a minor shake up of Vion’s board of directors​ was announced last week. Theo Koekkoek, 46, will replace Toon van Hoof who is ineligible for statutory reappointment to the €4bn turnover company’s supervisory board.