MHP acquires Nitsiakos poultry company of Greece

Ukraine-based agri-food group MHP SE is set to acquire a majority stake in Th. Nitsiakos AVEE Ptinotrofikes Epicheiriseis (Nitsiakos) — Greece’s leading poultry company.

An agreement has been reached with the existing shareholders of Nitsiakos that MHP SE could acquire a 100% stake in the company over a period of time.

Subject to regulatory approvals, MHP is set to acquire 70% of the share capital in three tranches. The first of these is expected in the first quarter of next year, and the last is scheduled for the end of 2028.

Still to be agreed is the purchase price, which is yet to be calculated, based on a valuation of the Nitsiakos business, and its debts, working capital, and operating profit for the last financial year.

The purchase price for Completion 1 will be calculated by reference to the Target's enterprise value, adjusted for cash, financial debt and a working capital adjustment at completion, tied to the Target's EBITDA for the financial year ended 31 December 2025. The pricing formula applicable to the subsequent completions will likewise be calculated by reference to the Target's enterprise value, subject to customary closing adjustments at the time of each such completion.

The actual amount payable at each completion will be disclosed by way of a separate announcement at the relevant time.

MHP retains the option to purchase the remaining 30% of shares in Nitsiakos at a later stage.

In a recent interview, MHP founder and CEO Yuriy Kosyuk confirmed the group’s commitment to strengthening its operations in south-eastern Europe. 

More on Nitsiakos

Based in Ioannina in northwestern Greece, Nitsiakos was founded as a poultry company in the 1970s, according to MHP.

Since then, the company has developed businesses in other meats, as well as animal feeds and pet foods.

Nitsiakos is now the largest poultry company in Greece, and one of the country’s leading vertically integrated food producers. Consolidated revenue for the last financial year was reported to be around EUR540 million (US$628 million).

Meanwhile, Nitsiakos reports that it is the only company in Greece to have its own operations in animal production and in all major meats.

As well as being the country’s largest broiler producer, the firm also produces beef, pork, turkey and rabbit meats, as well as processed meat products.

The founder of the company, Theodoros Nitsiakos, developed the business in the regions of Epirus and Macedonia, marketing hatching eggs, chicks, complete feeds and feed raw materials. 

More on MHP SE

MHP leads the rankings of the largest poultry companies in Europe, according to the WATT Poultry Top Poultry Companies database.

Based in Ukraine, the same source records that MHP is the market leader in its home market, and exports to many other countries.

A recent review of the world’s leading poultry producers puts MHP at number 8 in the global rankings, with annual production of 704 million birds.

As well as poultry, the group produces and exports processed poultry products, grains, vegetable oils and biomethane.

MHP Group’s headquarters are located on the island of Cyprus. In Ukraine, MHP is among the largest agricultural land bank operators, and it has three vertically integrated poultry complexes, and four meat processing facilities. Outside Ukraine, MHP’s “European Operating Segment” comprises the Slovenia-based Perutnina Ptuj poultry company, a cutting plant in the Netherlands, and the Uvesa Group of Spain, which MHP acquired in 2025.

For the last financial year, MHP reported a total revenue of almost US$3.77 billion, which represented a 24% increase on the previous 12 months. However, the ongoing war in Ukraine was blamed for a 15% year-on-year reduction in the group’s operating profit.