(source: Sme)
The Penta financial group agreed to sell the Mecom Group, which unites meat-processing companies in Slovakia and Hungary, including the biggest Slovak meat processing plant in Humenné.
Investment Advisory Guide - Your key to understanding the Slovak business environment (source: Investment Guide)
The buyer is a global leader in the meat business, the U.S.-based company Smithfield Foods. An earlier version of this story read that Smithfield Foods is an American company. The company, founded in the USA in the 1930s, was in fact bought by Hong Kong-based WH Group in 2013.
Both sides agreed that the sum of the transaction will not be made public and the transaction will be concluded once the respective authorities in Slovakia and Hungary approve it.
The parties to the transaction are the meat holding compnay Carnibona, which belongs to Penta, and Smithfield Foods. Several strategic investors competed for Mecom Group in a tender.
“I am pleased that our belief in quality production and the efficient management of the Mecom Group has been confirmed by the great interest of the world's leading players in the meat processing industry,” Marián Slivovič, partner in Penta Investments, said as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Growth plan in Europe
With the announcement of the acquisition of the Mecom Group, Smithfield Foods is strengthening its brand portfolio and continues to invest in its European operations.
"Mecom will fit into our growth plan in Europe and complement our existing brand portfolio," said Luis Cerdan, Executive Vice President, Smithfield Foods Europe.
The Mecom Group has two meat processing plants in Slovakia, in Lučenec and Humenné. Together they can process 5,000 tons of meat monthly.
It also controls two smaller plants in Hungary. The plant in Szolnok specialising in the production of salami with noble mould can process 220 tons of meat per month.
The production plant in Békescsaba produces 350 tonnes of salami per month under the traditional Csabai brand.
Mecom exports up to 54 percent of its production. Its largest export markets are Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany. The group has more than 1,400 employees. In 2020, Mecom Group's revenues reached a value of more than €138 million.
Disclaimer: The Penta financial group has a minority share in Petit Press, the publisher of the Sme daily and the co-owner of The Slovak Spectator.
