IRELAND – Dawn Farms, Europe’s largest specialist cooked meats ingredients business, has acquired German protein supplier Haas as it continues to consolidate its business in the European market.
Established in 1994, Haas is a mid-sized supplier employing about 100 people with a focus on the pizza sector – which Dawn Farms notes the two companies shares many of the businesses aspects and cultural attributes.
Commenting on the transaction, Larry Murrin, CEO of Dawn Farms said the acquisition was a really important step to establish a manufacturing presence on the ground from which the company can continue to grow its business.
“The Haas family has built a high-quality business over the past 25 years which has an excellent fit with Dawn Farms,” Murrin said.
“Their manufacturing process and products are complementary to ours and we see opportunities to broaden this over time through investment in Nonnweiler-Otzenhausen.
“Our ongoing strategy to expand and grow in Europe has always been based on identifying clear market opportunities across our existing customer base and on the potential for new customer engagement. Haas is an ideal business to further enable the execution of this strategy.”
According to the terms of the deal, the founder and managing director of Haas, Achim Haas, and the company’s chief operating officer Patrick Treitz will remain at the company following the acquisition.
Achim Haas, managing director of Haas GmbH said: “Dawn Farms is a proven leader in our sector and given the common attributes we enjoy, this partnership makes a lot of sense.
“For Dawn Farms, this deal establishes a significant foothold in the German market. For Haas, it creates an even stronger platform for employees, suppliers and customers.
“We look forward to working with Larry and his team to avail of the opportunities this partnership brings.”
This acquisition will provide Dawn Foods with a production site located outside of the UK and Ireland for the first time.
Dawn Foods said that operating production sites in continental Europe will allow it to keep its business strong in future despite Brexit uncertainty. Murrin said that the acquisition will also help the company expand its investments in Europe.
