German Dairy Merger Moves Closer
Nordmilch, Germany’s largest dairy group, is close to merging with fellow co-operative Humana Milchindustrie. The two German dairy co-operatives have already bundled their sales activities together to form Nord-Contor Milch.
Rolf Janshen (left), chief director of Humana Milchindustrie, and Dr Josef Schwaiger, chief executive of Nordmilch.
The boards of management and supervisory boards of Nordmilch and Humana Milchindustrie have now proposed a full merger. However, the proposal requires the consent of the members of both co-operatives and of the German Federal Cartel Office. The representatives of the co-operatives’ farmer members will be informed of the merger details at their annual assemblies and the final decision will then be passed at extraordinary assemblies no later than the end of the year.
“A comparison of the development of the dairy industry in Germany with that in neighbouring European countries clearly reveals that Germany needs further consolidation to survive in international competition in the long term,” says Dr Josef Schwaiger, chief executive of Nordmilch.
