DAT-Schaub already had a 50 per cent stake in Casing Associates, but as the principal shareholder in the new company, a much stronger position and new opportunities have been opened up for DAT-Schaub in North America.

"We have been looking at Wolfson Casings for a while, and suddenly the opportunity arose to merge the two companies with DAT-Schaub as the driving force. I am convinced that this is the best possible timing for the merger," said Jan Roelsgaard, CEO of DAT-Schaub.

He expects the new company, which will be managed by the former Wolfson and Casing Associates managements, to generate revenue of approx. $160 million and become an important element in DAT-Schaub's future strategy.

"For 60 years, Wolfson Casing has been owned and managed by Monte Wolfson, who has built an impressively effective sales organisation which we can now use to strengthen our sales of European casings to the world's biggest sausage market. At the same time, it gives us our own production in the USA, something we have wanted for a while," said Jan Roelsgaard.

All in all, DAT-Schaub and DCW Casings process and sell more than 70 million sets of pork casings a year, making DAT-Schaub one of the largest players in the market.

Wolfson also has a strong position as a supplier of lamb casings, which will take the DAT-Schaub group into the lead worldwide.

This means that DAT-Schaub is now further strengthening the growth which the company has achieved in recent years.

"We expect the merger of the two companies to generate substantial synergies, for the benefit of both our customers and our owners," said Jan Roelsgaard.