Meat group: Tönnies is not sold - the business remains in family hands

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Clemens Tönnies (right) with his son and co-partner Maximilian Tönnies

Photo: Friso Gentsch / dpa

Germany's most important slaughter remains in family hands.

The shareholders of the Tönnies group of companies - Robert, Clemens and Maximilian Tönnies - want to hold onto the previous ownership structure, the company will not be sold.

The family wants to lead the company into the future together, a legal dispute is over, according to a statement.

Germany's largest slaughterhouse and meat company now wants to focus on the issues of sustainability, climate protection and animal welfare.

New business areas such as pet food or plant-based meat alternatives should also play an important role.

Family lines each hold 50 percent

The Bloomberg news agency reported in March that the company, with annual sales of around 7 billion euros, was about to be sold.

The managing partner of the Tönnies meat company, Clemens Tönnies, had already insisted on the family's claim to leadership back then.

In the first half of 2021, both sides had jointly examined various options for the future design of the owner structure, the joint announcement said.

In doing so, they came to the conclusion that the current structure was exactly the right one.

Clemens Tönnies and his nephew Robert had been fighting for years over the supremacy of the company with over 16,000 employees.

Both family lines hold 50 percent each.

Now they have declared that Tönnies is unique in the world in terms of its focus as an integrated food producer.

This company value should be continuously increased.

The expansion of new business areas such as pet food or plant-based meat alternatives will play an increasingly important role.

Half of it is exported

In its core business, the company, which was founded in 1971 and has grown internationally through numerous acquisitions, deals with the slaughter, butchering and processing of pigs and cattle.

Around half of the production is exported.

In addition, Tönnies is already the market leader in the organic sector.

The group, based in Rheda-Wiedenbrück in North Rhine-Westphalia, hit the headlines after a corona outbreak at the main plant last year.

More than 1,500 employees were infected with the virus and the plant was temporarily closed.

Clemens Tönnies, who turned 65 in May, controls around 45 percent of the shares, Robert Tönnies has around 50 percent.

Maximilian Tönnies, son of Clemens Tönnies, who is also a partner and holds around five percent of the shares, also works in the group.

Among other things, he was entrusted with the expansion of the company in the market for vegetarian food, in which Tönnies is represented with the brands "Vevia" and "Gutfried veggie".

apr / Reuters / dpa