The merger of these two companies has resulted in a world-leading swine breeding company with annual revenues exceeding US$179 million (€130 million). The head office will be in Vught, the Netherlands.

TOPIGS Nederland, Varkens K.I. Nederland and Norsvin SA are not part of the merger.

TOPIGS and Norsvin are farmer-owned, with an identical philosophy of paying dividends through genetic progress from applied research and development (R&D). Farmer-owned meat processors and a feed supplier are minority shareholders.

TOPIGS and Norsvin are aligning their R&D activities for more and smarter investments to accelerate genetic progress and develop new products. TOPIGS and Norsvin have cooperated successfully on selected R&D projects for many years and are now fully aligning all R&D activities. The combined R&D budget is about US$25 million (€18 million), equalling 14 per cent of the revenues. The combination of high-throughput phenotyping, large-scale computer tomography of boars, global nucleus breeding, massive gathering of production data and genomic selection will accelerate genetic progress and add value to the entire production chain.

Topigs Norsvin has a complementary product portfolio with increased value to customers.

The current products of both merging companies will remain available.

Bjarne Holm, Chief Development Officer of Topigs Norsvin, said: "Results from new, combined products are so promising that we can see that these will have a global benefit. Topigs Norsvin’s strategy involves excellent support through local presence based on individual customer needs. Together we have the people, products and knowledge to offer this better than anyone else."

Martin Bijl, CEO of Topigs Norsvin, added: "TOPIGS and Norsvin is a perfect match. We are both R&D driven and have complimentary portfolios. TOPIGS brings robust, easy to manage lines providing the best total feed efficiency. Norsvin brings extremely productive, lean and efficient lines. Also the market position is complementary with TOPIGS’ global presence and Norsvin's solid presence in Scandinavia, the US and the Baltic region."

With a production of more than 1.55 million crossbred gilts and over eight million doses of semen per year, Topigs Norsvin (www.topigsnorsvin.com) is one of the biggest swine genetics suppliers in the world. Each year more than 90 million slaughter pigs are produced with Topigs Norsvin genetics.

Both TOPIGS and Norsvin are renowned for their innovative approach to implementing new technologies and a continuous focus on cost-efficient pig production. Research, innovation and dissemination of genetic improvement will be the cornerstones of the new company. Continuous and strong product improvement will enable clients to achieve significant added value in their production.