Bureau Veritas acquires Schutter Group as part of global agri-food strategy

Bureau Veritas acquires Schutter Group as part of global agri-food strategy

The acquisition provides new capabilities and further expands Bureau Veritas' footprint in agri-commodities in Europe, South America and Asia

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, March 2, 2017 - Bureau Veritas announces it has acquired Schutter Groep B.V. (Schutter Group), a leading provider of Inspection, Testing, Certification and logistical support services to the global agri-commodities markets.

Schutter Group has been providing quality solutions for nearly 170 years, principally in the fields of edible oils and fats, grains, animal feed and bio-fuel. Its services include inspection, laboratory testing, risk management, supply chain auditing and certification. Headquartered in Rotterdam, Schutter Group has 600 employees and an extensive footprint of strategically located offices and laboratories in 11 countries across Europe, South America and Asia. The company generated around EUR 35 million revenues in 2016.

"Bureau Veritas' ambition is to be recognized as a leading player in the agri-food market by 2020. The Schutter acquisition is an important milestone in our implementation of this growth initiative", said Didier Michaud-Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas. 
"By diversifying our service portfolio through leveraging Schutter's proven expertise, and expanding our geographic footprint, we will provide more comprehensive support for new and existing customers."

"This is a great development for Schutter as we need to join forces with a powerful partner in order to speed up and boost growth internationally. In addition, our core values of quality, service excellence and technical expertise are certainly shared by both companies," said
Hans Zwijnenburg, Chief Executive Officer of Schutter Groep B.V.  "We look forward to continuing to provide swift, accurate, reliable services in a flexible and responsive manner for our customers, as part of the Bureau Veritas Group."

The Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) market for Agri-Food will experience buoyant growth in the future, driven by population increase, globalization of the food supply chain, more stringent regulations and rising consumer awareness for quality. Against this favorable backdrop, Bureau Veritas reported 10% organic growth in the Agri-Food segment in 2016.

Schutter Group is the Group's third transaction in food and agricultural commodities for the past year, following the acquisition of a majority stake in the Australian company Dairy Technical Services and the recent acquisition of KMA in Brazil.