VietNamNet Bridge - The animal feed market has been busy recently with many merger & acquisition deals carried out by major companies.

Sources said that Masan Group, for example, is taking final steps to take over GreenFeed. The animal manufacturer is valued at $500 million, a much higher price than $164 million in 2012.

GreenFeed is a domestic enterprise which has four animal feed factories with the total capacity of 500,000 tons and a closed network of pig farms from the north to the south. 

If Masan Group successfully takes over Greed Feed as rumored, the animal feed market, worth $8 billion a year, will see big changes.

In April 2015, in an unexpected move, Masan announced it had taken over two leading animal feed manufacturing enterprises – Proconco and Anco, where it holds 52 percent and 70 percent of stake, respectively.

Proconco and Anco can churn out 1.7 million tons of animal feed a year, output just lower than CP Vietnam’s. 

However, if Masan takes over GreenFeed, it would be able to put out 2.2 million tons. By that time, it would be on the same par with CP Vietnam, the largest animal feed producer in the market.

Hung Vuong Seafood, known as one of the largest seafood processing companies, now owns six feed factories with the total capacity of 905,000 tons a year. It is highly possible that Hung Vuong’s output would reach 1.2 million tons in 2015 to become the largest aquatic feed producer in Vietnam.

No official statement has been made by Hung Vuong, but analysts noted that Hung Vuong is attempting to jump into the animal feed sector. 

A source said Hung Vuong has reached agreements with some Danish leading pig farming groups on importing breeders, farming equipment and medicine to run its project on closed pig farming in Vietnam.

The source said Hung Vuong plans to budget VND2 trillion for the project with an aim to put out 1.2-1.5 million tons of animal feed more by 2018 and millions of pigs.

Hoa Phat, known as a big steel manufacturer, has set up its second livestock farming company, located in Dong Nai province with charter capital of VND200 billion. Its first batch of animal feed products is expected to hit the market in early 2016.

With three big Vietnamese companies joining the animal feed sector, the domestic market is expected to be dominated by Vietnamese. 

It is expected that the total market share of Hung Vuong, Hoa Phat and Masan would by mid-2016 be no less than 40 percent. If so, Vietnamese enterprises will make a breakthrough in the market, which is now being controlled by foreign invested enterprises. 

FIEs, with 58 factories, hold 60-65 percent of the market share.

NCDT