Royal De Heus Group (De Heus) signed a share purchase agreement Oct. 11 to acquire 100% of the shares in Universal Agri Bisnisindo (Universal), a private Indonesian animal feed company held by a consortium of several private shareholders.

The acquisition represents De Heus’ entry into Indonesia's animal feed market and is in line with its strategy to further strengthen its position in the animal feed in Asia. The acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018.

With a population of 260 million people, Indonesia is the largest market for protein consumption in Southeast Asia, and the demand for animal proteins in Indonesia will continue to grow due to rising incomes, population growth and changes in dietary preferences. As a result, it is expected that the size of the animal feed market will further expand from 19 million to 22 million metric tons by 2022.

“With a total annual sales volume of 300,000 mt of poultry, fish and shrimp feed, Universal provides De Heus with an ideal platform to build and further expand our activities in Indonesia,” Royal De Heus chief executive officer Koen De Heus said. “De Heus is a family-owned company with a long-term vision for the animal feed industry. Four generations of our family have shown their leadership, commitment and involvement with our clients and partners. I am sure that our knowledge, experience and international presence will help us to strengthen and grow Universal’s feed activities in Indonesia by optimizing the technical performances of its customers and the independent Indonesian farmers. We welcome the Universal employees to the De Heus family.”

Octo Rachnalim, one of Universal’s main shareholders, said: “First of all, we would like to sincerely thank our loyal employees and loyal customers for their commitment to Universal that we have built together since the year 2000. Secondly, we would like to inform them that we are confident that De Heus will further strengthen and grow Universal.”

In 2009, De Heus has entered the Southeast Asian market through the acquisition of an animal feed company in Vietnam. Nine years later, De Heus Vietnam has become a top three player, with eight mills strategically spread throughout the country.

“The success of De Heus in Vietnam -- where, since last year, our regional Asian head office is located -- has boosted our confidence to develop our activities in the region. Besides Vietnam, we are now successfully operating two feed mills in Myanmar, constructing a feed mill in Cambodia and, through this acquisition, we can enter the promising Indonesian animal feed market,” Gabor Fluit, regional director De Heus Asia, said.

De Heus will appoint Kay De Vreese, who has more than 15 years of experience in key management positions in the industry in both Europe and Asia, as president director of Universal. He will be supported by Ton Hovers, an experienced professional in the Indonesian animal nutrition industry who will become a member of Universal’s board of directors and will focus on the further development and growth of the aquaculture business.

De Heus is a multinational, family-owned animal feed company. Founded in 1911, De Heus has rapidly expanded its business over the years and is now one of the top 15 animal feed suppliers in the world.

In addition to the Netherlands, De Heus has operations in more than 50 countries, including operating companies in Vietnam, Myanmar, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, Brazil and Serbia. De Heus is also active in the Chinese market, where it has a strategic alliance with Wellhope Agri-Tech Co. Ltd. In addition, De Heus operates in many foreign markets through the export of concentrates and premixes, in particular to Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The company has more than 5,000 employees worldwide, 650 of whom are in the Netherlands. Its head office is located in Ede-Wageningen, Netherlands.