The transaction remains subject to approval by the antitrust authorities and is expected to be consummated during the first half of 2011.
“This acquisition follows our declared strategy to expand the food process technology activities of GEA Group horizontally,” said Jürg Oleas, CEO of GEA Group. “We are taking our portfolio another big step forward towards the less cyclical food industry. In doing so, we can leverage the brand value of GEA by offering our customers ever more solutions along their entire process chain from one single source.”
“In the medium term, GEA sees potential to considerably boost profits at CFS in cooperation with the existing management and to realize synergies with existing GEA businesses.“ said Niels Graugaard, member of the executive board and COO of GEA.
“The market segment of animal proteins is one of the fastest growing within the entire food industry,” added Brian McCluskie, CEO of CFS. “As part of the GEA Group, we will have the chance to develop new customers and find access to new markets. GEA offers ideal growth conditions for an innovative and quality focused company such as CFS.“
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is one of the largest system providers for food and energy processes with about EUR 4.4 billion (US$5.8 billion) in 2009 revenue. As an internationally operating technology group, the company focuses on process technology and components for demanding production processes in various end markets. The group gains about 70% of its revenue in the long-term growing food and energy industries. its workforce includes more than 20,000 employees worldwide.
CFS specializes in performance-focused solutions for the food industry, from a single machine or packaging material to a complete production line for the preparation, marination, processing, slicing and packaging of primarily meat, poultry, fish, seafood and cheese-based products.
