Mergers, Alliances and Acquisitions in the Nordic Agro and Food industry

A strong agro and food industry is one of the best means for securing a healthy and stable financial development in the agricultural industry. As the concentration of enterprises in the retail industry and the agro and food industry has increased in the past years, enterprises have begun looking beyond the national borders for new business partners.The extent of cross-border co-operation in the Nordic region has also increased significantly in a relatively short period of time. Because the agro and food industry varies from country to country in the Nordic region, this development involves both advantages and disadvantages as to which business areas can advantageously be chosen with a view to co-operation.In some areas the enterprises can supplement each other, but in other sectors the variations between the Nordic countries limit the possibilities of co-operation. However, all the cross-border co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry is presumably started with an expectation of positive synergetic effects and a better common financial performance. Despite that an evaluation of the experiences has not been conducted. In addition to this, a common forum that can support and stimulate a positive development of co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry is missing. On this background the aim of the project is the following:The aim of the project is to enhance the competitiveness of the Nordic agro and food industry. This will happen through the mapping out and analysis of the existing co-operation and the potential for new co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry. Consequently, the project will establish new knowledge that can be the foundation for increased co-operation among the enterprises in the Nordic agro and food industry. At the same time the project will try to expand and cement the common Nordic networks in the agricultural sector by spreading the information and experiences from the project.