1. Could you briefly tell us about your company's history? Which generation of the family are you?
DAGU S.A. is a company with deep roots dating back to the AGU Livestock Production and Marketing Cooperative, founded in 1974 and converted into a public limited company (Sociedad Anónima) in 1980. Our company was built by a group of veterinarians who ventured into livestock production as a complement to their professional calling.
Originally, the cooperative's mission was the joint marketing of eggs produced by our cooperative members, a mission that continued even after our conversion into a public limited company in 2000.
My history with the company began in 1982, when I joined DAGU's management team. Two years later, I became Managing Director. In 2000, I took on a more active role by becoming a shareholder in the company, and I did so with an ambitious strategic plan that would radically change DAGU's course. Over the following decade, our company evolved from being merely a trading business to covering every stage of the poultry production cycle. That was possible thanks to a solid Sustainable Poultry Development Strategic Plan that we drew up and that has been fundamental to our transformation.
2. What were the most significant challenges you faced in achieving growth in the company's early years?
In 2000, we broke away from the cooperative model that had prevailed until then. This transition was marked by the departure of some of the founding shareholders in a process that was, at times, traumatic. However, it was amid these challenging circumstances that we launched an ambitious project of integrated development across our entire production chain.
This project covered everything from livestock breeding to feed production, including setting up laboratories and more. All of it was carried out under a solid concept of sustainability, which seeks to bring together food safety, animal welfare, and environmental protection. This approach was underpinned by a model of sound economic viability and driven by a large-scale research, development, and innovation plan.
Overall, this stage drove investments of more than €40 million and gave us a leading industrial base at the forefront of our sector.
3. What led you to decide on a corporate transaction, either bringing in an investment partner or selling all of the shares?
At the end of 2017, DAGU's business project was at a crucial point, where we were looking to lead a consolidation in our sector. This approach would allow us to keep growing without adding more supply to an already saturated market, while at the same time acquiring the scale needed to effectively serve increasingly concentrated demand. In addition, this strategy would allow us to strengthen our competitiveness by taking advantage of the synergies that would arise during the consolidation process.
In this context, we found ourselves in the particular situation of having some of our directors and founding shareholders without a clear generational successor and at a stage of their lives when it was reasonable to consider planning for succession. This scenario led the Board of Directors to a unanimous decision: the need to look outside the company, in an orderly manner, for a new group of shareholders that would bring stability to the company and address the interests of those who wished to sell their stakes.
In the end, the purchase offer was extended to all of the Company's shareholders, except for the management team, which kept its shareholdings and continued to lead DAGU with its responsibilities intact.
4. What factors helped you choose the best partner?
The fundamental factor was identifying investors who shared the vision of the business project, were willing to back the sector consolidation plan with financial strength, and were committed to maintaining a stable, long-term presence without time constraints. Obviously, the valuation obtained by the shareholders leaving DAGU was taken into account, but it came second. The unwavering priority was always the business project and its continuity.
5. What are the main advantages of bringing a financial/corporate partner into your company?
In our sector consolidation project, the financial partner plays a vitally important role by providing the equity needed for potential acquisitions within our sector. However, its value goes beyond financing. It's also fundamental to the structure of the new Board of Directors. This board is set up to bring together the management shareholders, who have extensive experience in the business, alongside investor representatives made up of experts in finance and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This gives the company a highly qualified team, with the autonomy and full commitment to successfully manage the consolidation project.
And you… Are you ready to close a Deal?
