OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2013. Cherkizovo Group (LSE: CHE), Russia’s largest integrated and diversified meat producer, announces that is has finalized the acquisition of the Dankov meat processing plant for the sum of 38.5 million rubles.

The plant is located in a town of Dankov, in the Lipetsk region, close to a number of existing Cherkizovo pork facilities, and approximately 300 km south of Moscow. Established in 1936, it specializes in cattle and pig slaughtering and boning, meat freezing and production of sausages. Production capacity of the slaughterhouse is approximately 500 heads per shift, while the processing site produces 3.5 tons per day. The plant also has a 600 ton meat cold storage facility. Cherkizovo Group plans to increase the capacity of the slaughtering facility at the newly acquired site.

“The acquisition of the Dankov meat processing plant fits in perfectly with the company’s strategy for long-term growth through organic business development and  market consolidation,” said Sergei Mikhailov, CEO of Cherkizovo Group.

“The main advantages of the facility are the fact that it has its own slaughtering capacity and its convenient location not far from the Group’s pork facilities in the Central Russia. This new asset will enable us to increase the operational efficiency and to maintain our competitive advantage in the pork segment even dealing with the challenging  market environment.”