Producer of "Nasha Ryaby" invests 76 million euros in unprofitable poultry factory in France

Currently, the French chicken producer LDC and the Ukrainian agroholding MHP are simultaneously negotiating

Agroholding "Myronivsky Hliboproduct" is ready to invest EUR76 million in partial recovery of the economic difficulties of the Doux Group. This is reported in the press service of the agricultural holding.

According to the press service, at present the French chicken producer LDC and the Ukrainian agroholding MHP are simultaneously negotiating the purchase of the French food processing company Doux.

The MHP indicated that they had submitted a "mandatory offer for partial restoration" of Doux. In particular, the agroholding proposes to invest 76 million euros in the construction of a new plant in Chatolen within two years and modernize other facilities.

In addition, the MHP showed readiness to change the strategy, in particular, to abandon the production of frozen products for export, replacing them with fresh ones for the French market.

As reported, the MHP is in talks with the French chicken producer Doux Group about the takeover. Agroholding on March 9, 2018 filed with the Committee for the Restructuring of Industry of France (Comité interministériel de restructuration industrielle) documents for the restoration of the Doux Group. MHP estimates the amount of required investment to restore the group to 150 million euros, while requiring that at least 70 million euros be compensated by state subsidies.

On March 13, a message appeared that Agroholding "Myronivsky Hliboproduct" could buy a French producer of chicken Doux Group.

Earlier it was reported that the  agroholding MHP refused trade negotiations with the Polish poultry farmExdrob, which was to become the third asset of the company in the EU. The information about Yury Kosyuk's intentions to acquire the plant in Poland appeared in September 2017, then the Polish Office of Competition Protection and Consumers received an application for permission to purchase Exdrob from Cypriot Roftan Holding, owned by Myronivsky Hliboprodukt. However, according to the Exdrob management, in late November 2017 the plant received a letter in which the company Raftan Holding Ltd reported that it "refuses trading negotiations for commercial reasons."

According to the Doux Group website, the economic difficulties of the group have worsened since 2016. The main factor in this case is the substantial dumping of chicken prices (by 30% per year) from Brazilian producers in the market of Saudi Arabia, which is the main one for Doux. The group's management presented a plan for the accelerated transformation of the business model at a regular meeting of the Central Committee of Trade Unions of France (Le comité central d "entreprise) in September 2017. At the same time, the group noted that the implementation of the plan requires attracting new production and financial partners.

The main shareholder of the Doux Group since 2016 is the French group Terrena, which, according to the Challenge's, has repeatedly expressed that it is unable to finance the loss-making activities of the Doux Group, which has lost EUR35 million over the past two years.

Doux Group founded in 1955, is one of the leading European manufacturers of poultry products.

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"Myronivsky Hliboproduct" is the largest producer of chicken meat in Ukraine. He is also engaged in the production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat processing products. To the European market MHP supplies cooled chicken half-carcasses, which are processed, including  at its enterprises in the Netherlands and Slovakia .

The board of directors of the agricultural holding Myronivsky Hliboproduct approved the payment of interim dividends of $ 0.7492 per share , which is equivalent to approximately $ 80 million and corresponds to the level of the previous year.

At the same time, to the largest producer of chicken, MXP agroholding in the third quarter of 2017 reduced sales by 13%. The average selling price for meat for the specified period was 37.88 UAH / kg (excluding VAT), an increase of 15% compared to the previous quarter and 30% - for the year. 

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