Vion Food Group is selling two more slaughterhouses in Germany as part of a “strategic realignment” towards the Benelux region.
On Friday (17 April), the Dutch meat processor said it had entered a principal commercial agreement to divest its Waldkraiburg and Crailsheim sites to Boeser Frischfleisch and OSI Europe Foodworks, respectively.
The facilities in southern Germany were previously set to be sold to Premium Food Group, formerly known as Tönnies.
However, Germany’s competition regulator blocked that deal in June, warning it would harm farmers and smaller rivals.
Premium Food Group said it would challenge the decision in German courts but, in November, proposed that rival processor Westfleisch step in instead.
The disposals of the Waldkraiburg beef plant and the Crailsheim pork and beef facility are also subject to regulatory approval.
Vion said it selected the new buyers based on their “strong long-term commitment and the ability to invest in a sustainable future for the sites”.
The company added that “the locations involved hold significant strategic value for the acquiring parties, supporting their continued development and integration”.
The transactions are structured as share deals, with financial terms remaining undisclosed.
Asked by Just Food about potential job losses at the two plants, a Vion spokesperson said the nature of a share deal ensures employment contracts remain unchanged, adding: "At the same time, we will work closely with the acquiring parties to align on central and supporting functions which were previously responsible for the whole German business.
"This includes assessing which activities may transfer to the new owners and how these functions will be structured going forward."
The Crailsheim facility slaughters around 1 million pigs and 95,000 cattle per year and employs 593 people, Vion said.
Meanwhile, the Waldkraiburg plant slaughters around 163,000 cattle annually and has 338 employees.
The completion of the deals is expected in the "coming months", Vion said, contingent on getting regulatory and antitrust approvals.
Vion began closing meat assets in Germany in 2023 and a year later announced plans to exit the German market entirely.
In 2024, the then Tönnies Group reached a deal to acquire Vion’s cattle slaughterhouse and pre-packed facility in Altenburg, Thuringia, along with Ahlener Fleischhandel, a ham processing plant in Westphalia.
However, Premium Food Group announced plans to shutter the ham production site in May.
In January, Vion said it will “permanently” close its deboning facility in Hilden after regulators blocked its proposed sale, affecting 160 employees.
Evaluation of Vion’s remaining German sites is ongoing, with the aim of identifying “sustainable long-term solutions”, the company said on Friday.
It added that several parties have expressed “strong strategic interest” in the Buchloe beef facility. For the BestHides operations in Memmingen and Eching-Weixerau, the company is exploring “alternative” options.
Vion declined to confirm what the options might be.
The spokesperson said the meat plant at Furth im Wald, along with the foodservice sites at Holzwickede and Großostheim "are not part of current decisions".
