Avril in exclusive negotiations with Bigard Group for sale of controlling interest in ABERA and PORCGROS

Avril, the French leader in vegetable oils and proteins, announces that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Bigard Group for the sale of its majority shareholdings in ABERA and PORCGROS, which specialize in the slaughter and cutting of pork.
 
For Avril, this project is part of the process of refocusing its industrial activities around plant processing, with four priority areas of development: specialty ingredients, consumer products, renewable energies, and services and solutions for farmers, growers and livestock farmers. These four focuses support the Group's ambition and its growth plan to become the leader in plant solutions for the food, environmental and agricultural transitions by 2030.
 
With this project, which consolidates a major French player in the meat and pork industry, ABERA and PORCGROS will be able to strengthen the way they share their expertise, thus offering new future prospects for the development of their industrial facilities and the sustainability of their activities. This transaction is naturally in line with the continuity of current partnerships, with the pig producer group Porc Armor Evolution retaining a stake in ABERA's capital, and the founding families of PORCGROS retaining a stake in the company, which will accompany this majority takeover by Bigard Group. It will also ensure the continuity of job prospects for partner livestock farmers and the Sanders supply chains.
 
The effective completion of this transaction is subject to consultation with employee representative bodies and the employees of both companies — to whom the project was presented today — as well as to the authorization of the competition authorities.
 
 
Jean-Philippe Puig, CEO of Avril SCA, remarked: "I am delighted with this transaction, which will allow the ABERA and PORCGROS teams to join a large, independent, family-run French group, where they will share the same ambition and passion for their business. I would like to thank them for their contribution to the development of the Group. As a leader in plant processing, Avril remains a preferred partner of the agricultural world, animal sectors and French livestock farmers, notably through the daily commitment of our Sanders teams."