Cherkizovo : acquires feed mill in Orenburg Region

Cherkizovo Group (MOEX: GCHE), Russia's largest meat producer, announces completion of a deal to buy Venta-Oil, the owner of a feed mill and an elevator in the Orenburg Region. The acquisition is designed to enhance feed supplies to the Company's pig facilities in the Orenburg Region.

AIC Mikhailovsky (part of Cherkizovo Group) signed an agreement to purchase 100% of Venta-Oil, the owner of a grain storage and processing facility in the Orenburg Region. The facility includes a feed production unit (following an upgrade, its annual capacity is set to reach 50,000 tonnes), an elevator capable of storing 54,000 tonnes of grain at a time, a silo structure, and a warehouse for finished products. On top of that, the facility also boasts two grain dryers (80 tonnes per hour) and a certified laboratory.

Venta-Oil currently employs more than 70 people.

Cherkizovo Group has been operating in the Orenburg Region since 2022. The Company owns Vishnevsky Genetics and Breeding Center, which, among other things, provides assistance in pig breeding at sites with a cumulative capacity of over 250,000 heads per year. Thanks to the acquisition of Venta-Oil, Cherkizovo will enhance its biosecurity and provide the above sites with high-quality animal feeds.

"We take consistent steps to strengthen our Company's vertical integration, and the recently closed deal is yet another step in this direction. Cherkizovo continues to invest in the Orenburg Region, as it sees favorable conditions for business development. The new asset is a state-of-the-art feed production facility that will create good synergies with the other sites the Company owns in the region," said Anastasia Mikhailova, Head of Communications at Cherkizovo Group.

Cherkizovo Group is one of Russia's largest animal feed producers. In 2023, the Company produced 2.9 million tonnes of feed, up 21% year-on-year. Almost all of this feed is supplied to Cherkizovo-owned poultry and pig farming facilities.