LDC and Al-Munajem to acquire production sites of Doux.

LDC with Al-Munajem will acquire production sites of Poultry firm Doux Group. Groupe Doux S.A. produces and exports poultry and poultry-based processed products for retail, and food service and catering industries in Europe, the Middle East, and internationally. It has struggled to compete against cheaper Brazilian chicken in its main Middle Eastern markets in recent years after the scrapping of European Union export subsidies. Its main shareholder, French agricultural cooperative Terrena, decided to seek buyers after Doux lost around 35 million euros in each of the past two years. Under the proposals backed by the business court in Rennes, Al-Munajem, which was a client and minority shareholder of Doux, will take over a site supplying Doux’s traditional frozen chicken exports. LDC will take over a facility that makes processed food products, and plans to develop a new site to supply poultry to food industry and restaurant sectors in France. LDC and Al-Munajem have also agreed to form a joint company with Terrena and local partners including the regional authority in Brittany to provide supplies for poultry farmers in northwest France who work with Doux.