Poultry processor, Stolle, headquartered in Visbek and with four plants, is to merge with Friki Germany, which is part of the Dutch Plukon Royale Group BV, reports Nordwest Zeitung.

In a joint press statement last week, the two companies said the agreement has been made in principle and is now subject to investigation by the competition authorities.

In an interview with the newspaper, Werner Stolle, who is one of the co-owners, denied that the deal was a take-over of Stolle. He said that he and his sister, Waltraud, will remain personally and financially active in the new organisation.

Both companies stress that their aim is to achieve a significant market position in the German poultry meat sector.

They added that in future, they will raise the profile for consistency and quality in the production and supply of poultry meat.

Royal Plukon (2010 turnover: €740 million in the poultry sector) has eight factories with 2,700 employees in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Stolle (2010 turnover: €340 million) employs 1,500 people. Together, the companies slaughter and process approximately 6.5 million chickens and turkeys per week.

Other recent examples of changes in the meat industry are the sale of Nietfeld Feinkost (Dinklage) to Tulip Food (Denmark) in mid-February 2010 and the acquisition of D&S Meat (Essen) by Danish Crown in October 2010. Other sectors have experienced simialr changes.

Ewald Drebing (Agricultural and Food Forum for Oldenburg-Munsterland and CEO of Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan region) commented that he sees the development as a generational change.

He said that until recently, businesses have been run by local entrepreneurs. Although it may seem that local identity is being lost, this is part of today's market economy. He added that his wish that the participating companies will maintain an involvement in the region.