Lyons gains share of aquafeed market
Alltech has acquired the Dutch feed producer Coppens International, in a deal that offers a promising route into the aquafeed industry for the former’s microalgae and protein platforms .
Founded in 1993, Coppens International has earned a strong reputation for being an innovative, high-quality aquatic feed producer. The company’s specialties include temperate and tropical marine and freshwater diets for a variety of juvenile and adult species and it has a distribution network spread across more than 60 countries, including the Netherlands, France, Germany and Australia.
“Coppens International has many qualities we admire in a fish nutrition business: a robust, quality production system, dynamic routes to market and a pioneering spirit for research and development, which, all combined, present us with numerous synergies,” said Dr Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech. “With a combination of Alltech’s primacy in science and Coppens International’s strong distribution network, we have a winning formula for moving aquatic nutrition forward to greater feed efficiency.
Excitement
"I am delighted Coppens International is now firmly connected to a company at the forefront of science, animal health and nutrition,” said Anno Galema, managing director of Coppens. “Our future with Alltech now strengthens our ability to deliver aquatic feed nutrition solutions like never before.”
Coppens will continue to be headquartered in Helmond, the Netherlands, and led by Galema, who will report to Patrick Charlton, vice president at Alltech and newly appointed CEO of Coppens International.
The business is spread across three locations: its Dutch headquarters, in Helmond, focuses on customer and sales support; the second location, in Nettetal, Germany, focuses on production, scheduling and logistics, exporting aquatic feed to more than 60 countries worldwide; the third location, in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, focuses on R&D.
Alltech has more than tripled its sales in the last four years, with current sales revenues in excess of $2 billion. Coppens is the 15th company it has acquired since 2011.
