The listing and trading of its ordinary shares on Euronext Amsterdam is expected to start on May 24 under the symbol FFARM. The company will not offer or issue any new shares with the listing.
The listing is supported by the cooperative FromFarmers, which is the company’s majority shareholder, and on April 15, 99.9% of the votes cast at the company’s annual general meeting were in favor of trading all regular shares.
In 2015, ForFarmers produced 9.1 million tonnes of conventional and organic feed and turned over €2.24 billion. Gross profit in 2015 was up 7.7% to €424.2 million ($483.8 million). ForFarmers has 6% of the compound feed market in Europe.
“This is a historic moment for ForFarmers,” said Yoram Knoop, chief executive officer. “We are delighted that such a solid mandate was granted for listing on Euronext Amsterdam. This indicates that the members of cooperative FromFarmers, as well as the other shareholders, are confident in the ambition that ForFarmers has for expanding further into the leading animal feed company in Europe. We view a public stock exchange listing as a logical step in the development of ForFarmers. As an enterprise listed on the stock exchange, we will continue to communicate transparently to all the interested parties about the implementation of our Horizon 2020 strategy. The agricultural sector is a progressive one and has an important role in the issue of how to feed a growing world population in a sustainable manner. ForFarmers can and wants to contribute to this development by supporting farmers in achieving their business objectives with innovative and sustainable Total Feed solutions. Serving our customers, the farmers, in the proper manner with the feed solutions most cost-effective for them, is our core business and remains so after a public listing.”
Along with feed for the ruminant, swine, poultry and equine sectors, ForFarmers supplies products for crop farming and pasture farming.
The company is based in the Netherlands but also has facilities in Belgium, Germany and the U.K. ForFarmers has 2,370 employees.
One key objective of the company’s Horizon 2020 strategy is acquisitions with the aim of becoming the top producer in all regions where it is active. The company has seen rapid expansion since 2012, when it acquired British feed maker BOCM Pauls. Its most recent acquisitions included three U.K.-based companies: HST Feeds Ltd. (2014), Wheyfeed Holdings Ltd. (2014), and the agricultural activities of Countrywide Farmers (2015). All three have been fully integrated into ForFarmers UK.
Before being listed on EuroNest Amsterdam, ForFarmers B.V. will change to ForFarmers N.V. The company retained Rabobank and ABN AMRO Bank as joint advisors for the change.
