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Our contact with the specialised press as well as the regional media landscape is very important to us. We would be happy to inform you about the developments on the meat market, give statements or supply you with specialist news.

Monday, 04 January 2021

Eifelfleisch is part of the Simon Group

By Redaktion fleischwirtschaft.de

GEROLSTEIN Since the beginning of the year, the Eifelfleisch slaughterhouse has belonged to Fuchs and Simon-Fleisch. The previous owner, Dr. Peter Müller (64), decided to sell the company for reasons of age, the companies announced jointly.


At the Eifelfleisch Müller GmbH plant in Gerolstein, almost 180 cattle and 250 pigs were slaughtered and cut up every week. About 35 people were employed there. The previous managing director, Bianca Engeln (43) will continue to manage the company, now supported by Klaus-Dieter Fuchs as another managing director.

Potential for growth
For Simon-Holding, which last concentrated its cattle slaughtering in Prüm, the acquisition of the Gerolstein facility opens up growth potential that the Fuchs site in Prüm does not offer. Currently, about 600 cattle are slaughtered there every week.
“The slaughterhouse in Gerolstein is an important addition for us, the production capacities in the Prüm slaughterhouse are largely exhausted, and growth in the beef sector could only be achieved through a new building or the acquisition of another slaughterhouse and cutting plant,” Klaus-Dieter Fuchs explains in a statement to the media, referring to the expansion potential of the plant in Gerolstein (Vulkaneifel district).


Short distances ensured
Dr. Bernhard J. Simon ergänzt: „Dieser Schritt sichert nicht nur die Zukunft des Standorts Gerolstein, sondern ist auch ein wichtiges Signal für die gesamte Landwirtschaft in der Region.“ Die Eifel sei mit Abstand die viehstärkste Region in Rheinland-Pfalz, gerade die Milchviehhaltung habe einen besonderen Stellenwert. In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten sei eine Vielzahl von Schlachtstätten in und um die Eifel geschlossen worden, was schließlich zu Engpässen bei den Schlachtkapazitäten geführt habe. Dr Bernhard J. Simon adds: “This step not only secures the future of the Gerolstein location, but is also an important signal for the entire agricultural sector in the region. The Eifel is by far the region in Rhineland-Palatinate with the most livestock, and dairy farming is particularly important. In the past decades, a large number of slaughterhouses in and around the Eifel had been closed, which had ultimately led to bottlenecks in slaughter capacities. With the locations in Prüm and Gerolstein, however, they are now well positioned, said Dr Simon. On the one hand, the need for regional slaughter capacities in the Eifel can be met in the long term, and on the other hand, farmers benefit from short distances to the slaughterhouse.

Simon-Fleisch is one of the top 10 companies in the German meat industry. With around 550 employees, about 1.1 million pigs are slaughtered and processed annually at the Wittlich site.

The company is managed in the fifth generation by the cousins Alexander and Bernhard J. Simon.


In addition to the slaughterhouses in Prüm and Gerolstein, the Simon-Fleisch Group, which employs more than 700 people and has an annual turnover of almost 300 million euros, also includes the Eifeler Fleischwaren Ludwig Babendererde GmbH in Lissendorf.
Source: fleischwirtschaft.de; Simon-Fleisch

27. February 2014

Press release on the Acquisition of VION’s stake in Fuchs GmbH in Prüm by SIMON-Fleisch Holding

In a contract signed today, SIMON-Fleisch Holding acquired VION Fresh Meat South GmbH’s stake in Klaus-Dieter Fuchs GmbH in Prüm.

SIMON-Fleisch had indicated to VION last autumn that it was interested in acquiring its 50 per cent stake in Fuchs GmbH. Klaus-Dieter Fuchs GmbH is an extremely successful business. Due to the low slaughter volume from the Group’s point of view and structural changes within the Group, the strategic importance of the Prüm site for VION had increasingly diminished (see also VION’s press release of today). Despite its integration into the Group, Fuchs has therefore already been operating largely freely on the market in its day-to-day business in recent years. With the acquisition, SIMON-Fleisch intends to realise synergies, particularly in the beef sector.

At the end of January, the parties involved reached an agreement on the main points of the transaction. The shareholder Klaus-Dieter Fuchs now holds a majority of the shares. Subject to the approval of the purchase by the cartel authorities, the economic transfer of the share will take place retroactively to 31.12.2013. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Klaus-Dieter Fuchs GmbH slaughters approximately 350 cattle and 200 pigs per week, all of which come from the region. The company employs about 35 people and generated a turnover of almost 20 million euros in 2013.

Continuity is maintained in the operational business. Even after the entry of SIMON-Fleisch Holding, Fuchs GmbH will continue to be managed by Klaus-Dieter Fuchs (50) as managing partner together with his daughters – now as a pure family business. Paul J. Simon (63) was appointed as an additional managing director.

SIMON-Fleisch in Wittlich currently slaughters about 20,000 pigs and 150-200 cattle a week. In addition to Klaus-Dieter Fuchs GmbH, the SIMON-Fleisch Group also includes Eifeler Fleischwaren GmbH in Lissendorf. Altogether, the group of companies generates an annual turnover of approximately € 220 million and provides about 600 jobs in the low mountain region of the Eifel.