The two Danish co-operative slaughterhouse chains Danish Crown and Tican have announced they are merging.

Tican, a company with a 5.2 billion kroner turnover for the 2013-2014 financial year, has been looking into finding a new ownership model for more than a year.

Tican chairman Jens Jørgen Henriksen revealed that Danish Crown hadn’t initially been the preferred partner.

“Originally we hadn’t expected that Danish Crown would be a possible partner, but this merger is without doubt the preferred solution for Tican’s co-operative owners,” he said.

“We have found a model that doesn’t just give Tican a future, but also ensures that our owners – the Danish farmers – continue to be part of the creation of value in the Danish food cluster.”

Final approval needed
Danish Crown chairman Erik Bredholt explained that the company, which had a turnover of 58 billion kroner last financial year, has been advised by Danish and foreign competition experts on the implications of the merger.

“We needed to ascertain whether the competition aspects would actually make a merger possible,” he said. “And now we have received a clear indication that it is possible.”

The merger must be approved by an extraordinary general meeting, in the case of Tican, and an extraordinary meeting of the board of representatives in Danish Crown's case. Additional approval must be obtained from the competition authorities.

Assuming the merger is approved, Tican’s co-operative members will join the new company on an equal footing with Danish Crown’s members. During the first two years, differences in equity and earnings between the two companies will then be evened out.