ForFarmers strengthens its position mainly in poultry sector through acquisition of Maatman

2 July 2018

ForFarmers acquires the compound feed activities of Maatman veevoeders en kunstmest VOF (‘Maatman’), which is primarily active in the poultry sector but also in the ruminant sector in the Netherlands and Germany. Through this transaction, ForFarmers acquires a customer portfolio and a sales team with specific knowledge and experience. Maatman has outsourced its feed production to third parties, amongst which ForFarmers.

Maatman is founded in 1929 in Wolvega (Friesland, the Netherlands), initially as trading company in animal feed. The current owners, Martin and Edie Maatman, supply farmers with advice and feed with the aim to improve the return on farm.
‘ForFarmers also wants to help its customers to excel in result and quality. We want to continue with their customer specific approach for both the poultry as the ruminant sector in the future’, states Jan Potijk, general manager of ForFarmers Nederland.
Martin and Edie Maatman: ‘The fact that ForFarmers’ customer approach and values are predominantly equal to ours was the prime reason to initiate discussions with ForFarmers about the continuation and future of our business. Moreover, an important plus is that we have been working well with ForFarmers for a long time. We are confident that the takeover by ForFarmers will create added-value to both our employees and our customers’.

Maatman has 16 staff members, including the current two managers who are also owners of the company. In 2017, Maatman sold 114,000 tonnes feed and fertilizer to poultry and ruminant farmers. The production of feed is outsourced to multiple parties, amongst which ForFarmers (approximately 60% of total volume). The transport activities (15 bulk tankers) of Maatman are part of the transaction.

ForFarmers is paying Maatman a price for the assets/liabilities transaction based on an enterprise value of €7 million, which amounts to an EBITDA multiple of approximately 7. Payment will largely take place at closing of the transaction and the remainder after meeting certain targets (‘earn-out’). The acquisition is subject to review by the German competition authorities. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place within a few months. As of that moment, the Maatman results will be consolidated in the results of ForFarmers.

Maatman will become part of ForFarmers Nederland. Edie Maatman will temporary remain to supervise a smooth integration of Maatman into ForFarmers and to ensure that the interests of customers and employees are well looked after in this transition phase.