The joint forces of the two companies will be extending their three year old cooperation on AI and will make joint use of the BHZP sow breeding programme, which Hendrix says is a strong market leader in Germany.

The two companies have also agreed to work closely together on production, marketing and sales in the Netherlands and Germany in a bid to increase market share.

Speaking at EuroTier, the CEO of Hendrix Genetics Antoon van den Berg said the companies would be evaluating their breeding programmes with the aim of combining their gene pools to form one efficient breeding programme.

Dave Libertini, the general manager of Hypor said: "This alliance further strengthens our join position in swine genetics in the Netherlands and Germany.

"Our products, people and market position greatly complement each other and together we will be better positioned to provide added value for our clients and our people."

""Once our discussions started it became clear that we share a very similar vision and strategy and we realised this alliance is a natural fit for our joint activities in Germany and the Netherlands," said BHZP managing director Dr Conrad Welp.