RANDERS, Denmark – DAT-Schaub, a Danish Crown subsidiary, has acquired a 51 percent stake in DCW casings. DCW Casings is a merger between Casing Associates LCC, Bronx, NY and Mount Vernon, NY-based Wolfson Casings, the largest casings company in the US.

The move is expected to strengthen DAT-Schaub’s market position and create new opportunities for the company in North America, according to Danish Crown. DAT-Schaub owned a 50 percent stake in Casing Associates before the merger.

"We have been looking at Wolfson Casings for a while, and suddenly the opportunity arose to merge the two companies with DAT-Schaub as the driving force. I am convinced that this is the best possible timing for the merger," said Jan Roelsgaard, chief executive officer of DAT-Schaub.

Roelsgaard said expects the new company to generate revenue of approximately $160 million. Managers from Wolfson and Casing Associates will run the company.

"For 60 years, Wolfson Casing has been owned and managed by Monte Wolfson, who has built an impressively effective sales organization which we can now use to strengthen our sales of European casings to the world's biggest sausage market," Roelsgaard said. "At the same time, it gives us our own production in the USA, something we have wanted for a while."

DAT-Schaub and DCW Casings will process and sell more than 70 million sets of pork casings annually, making DAT-Schaub one of the largest players in the market, according to the company. Wolfson also has a strong position as a supplier of lamb casings.

"We expect the merger of the two companies to generate substantial synergies, for the benefit of both our customers and our owners," Roelsgaard said.