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Clemens Tönnies, one of the main owners of the meat company Tönnies
Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / picture alliance / dpa
According to an agency report, the Tönnies owner family is considering a multi-billion dollar sale of their meat company.
This could be valued at around four billion euros, reported the Bloomberg news agency on Thursday, citing people familiar with the process.
Talks with potential bidders could begin in the next few weeks, the report said.
Among other things, the competitors Tyson Foods, JBS SA and the Chinese WH Group are seen as interested parties.
A final decision has not yet been made.
The main owners of the group are Clemens and Robert Tönnies, who wanted to part with their shares in the event of a sale, it was said.
No comment from Tönnies
"We will not comment on such market rumors," a Tönnies spokesman told SPIEGEL.
"The market is on the move," said an industry insider according to the Reuters news agency.
It is no secret that the US company Tyson wants to expand in Europe.
According to his own statements, Tönnies had more than 16,000 employees in 2019, generating sales of 7.3 billion euros.
The core business of the company, which was founded in 1971, is the slaughter, butchering and processing of pigs and cattle.
Tönnies, based in Rheda-Wiedenbrück in North Rhine-Westphalia, hit the headlines after a corona outbreak at the main plant last year.
Over 1,500 employees were infected with the virus.
The principle of temporary work also came under increasing criticism as a result.
Clemens Tönnies then resigned from his position as head of the supervisory board of the Bundesliga soccer club Schalke 04 at the end of June 2020.
"My main task is currently to fully concentrate on my company, to lead it successfully through the worst crisis in its history," Tönnies justified the step in a letter to the association.
In the past, there had always been arguments between the main shareholder Robert Tönnies and his uncle Clemens Tönnies.
Among other things, a company spokesman appealed to Robert to "dedicate himself to the cause of the company in the tradition of the Tönnies family."
Clemens Tönnies controls around 45 percent of the shares, Robert Tönnies owns around 50 percent.
Maximilian Tönnies, son of Clemens Tönnies, who is also a partner, also works in the group.
Among other things, he was entrusted with the expansion into the market for vegetarian foods.
Tönnies is represented there with the brands »Vevia« and »Gutfried veggie«.
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caw / Reuters
