Icelandic Marel could take over Stork Foods and become the largest food system company in the world.
The Dutch company is reported to be suffering from internal disputes. Stork N.V. shareholders are meeting Thursday to discuss the future of the company. Fréttabladid reports that Marel will probably try to buy out Stork Foods at the meeting.
According to FT.com, Stork’s largest shareholders, Centaurus Capital of the UK and Polson & Co. of the US, want to split Stork up and sell all but its aerospace division.
Fréttabladid reports that director Sjoerd Vollebrecht disagrees and wants the 179-year old company to continue to grow.
Marel, together with Landsbankinn and Eyri Invest, owns an 8 per cent share in Stork and has for the past eight years worked closely with its food system division.
Fréttabladid says that although Marel has not issued a statement yet, it is clear that a merge with Stork Foods is in the company’s interest.
Árni Oddur Thórdarson, Marel’s chairman, said the two companies are market leaders and would go together well. He told Fréttabladid that this is a unique opportunity to create a world giant in the field of food systems.
