ST. HYACINTHE, Quebec – The Competition Bureau of Canada recently approved the merger of Olymel LP and ATRAHAN Transformation hog operations. The companies announced their intention to combine hog slaughtering, butchering and processing operations in February 2015. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ATRAHAN is a family-owned business that with a slaughtering capacity of nearly one million pigs per year. The company exports products to more than 50 countries. Olymel is a leading poultry and pork processor in Canada with facilities in Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. The company exports a third of its total sales to the United States, Japan and Australian in addition to more than 60 other countries. Both companies believe the merged hog operations will provide additional supplies of pork to meet foreign and domestic demand along with profitable synergies.

“Olymel will do everything possible to ensure that the sum of the expertise and know-how possessed by our two companies will enable us to benefit from the synergies generated by this transaction,” Rejean Nadeau, president and CEO of Olymel, said in a statement. “We welcome the managers and all 350 employees of ATRAHAN Transformation Inc. into this new partnership, and assure them of our desire to preserve the values that are at the core of this fine family business.

“Together, we will nurture a partnership that will be able to capture new markets and better satisfy our customers’ demands.”

Olymel reported annual sales of $2.8 billion, while ATRAHAN’s annual sales are more than $200 million, according to the company.