Denmark’s two cooperative slaughterhouse companies – Danish Crown and Tican – have agreed to combine their activities in a joint company.

Tican has been looking to find an economic business partner for some time, and that is the background to the decision from that company's point of view.

At Danish Crown, the decision was reached after consulting both Danish and foreign competition experts.

Tican's revenue (2013/14) was DKK5.2 billion. It has 2,200 employees and 277 members, and slaughtered 1.9 million pigs last year.

It was founded in 1931, and has its headquarters in Thisted in north-west Jutland. The company’s products include fresh and frozen pork, bacon, ready meals as well as a number of other processed meat products. Tican is a limited company (Tican A/S), which is wholly owned by the cooperative company, Tican amba.

As well as its slaughterhouse in Thisted, Tican owns processing companies in Denmark, the UK and Poland.

Danish Crown is the larger partner in this potential merger, with a revenue of DKK58 billion last year, 26,000 employees and 8,278 members. Its latest pig slaughter figure was 22 million at its facilities in Germany, Sweden, the UK and Poland in addition to Denmark. It also slaughters cattle and processes beef.

The company can trace its roots back to 1887, since when it has expanded through numerous mergers and acquisitions over the years. In addition to slaughtering and processing in Denmark, Danish Crown owns a number of foreign companies which slaughter, process and sell meat products worldwide. Danish Crown is made up of the limited company Danish Crown A/S, which is wholly owned by the cooperative company Danish Crown amba.

The Danish Crown group is the biggest of its kind in Europe within pig slaughtering and pork production.

Danish Crown and Tican jointly own DAT-Schaub (for natural casings) and pig transportation company, SPF Danmark.

The merger of the two companies is conditional on approval by extraordinary general meetings at Tican and by the Board of Representatives of Danish Crown as well as the relevant competition authorities.

In other news, market pig numbers and the demand for pork just before Tet (the New Year Festival) will ensure an adequate supply of meat in Viet Nam, according to a report from Genesus.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Director of Livestock at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Livestock, has reported that livestock production and markets in 2014 have been good with more benefits and returns to the farmers. Compared to the previous year, pig numbers were up by more than two per cent at the latest count and three per cent more pig meat has been produced.

USDA has not yet published its regular weekly up date on Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea.

Poland has reported African swine fever in three more wild boar, all in an area where there have been previous positive cases.