The Board of Danish Crown wants to go public and has proposed moving all of the cooperative’s commercial activities into a new Danish Crown A/S (Ltd.), according to Jyllands-Posten.

“It is correct that we have presented such a proposal t the committee of representatives. The idea is to make it easier for Danish Crown to manoeuvre – among other things in relation to cooperation with other companies that are often limited companies. It is easier to cooperate with companies of the same type,” Danish Crown Board Chairman Niels Mikkelsen tells Jyllands-Posten.

Partners are expected to be found in Germany, and the rumour mill suggests among others Westfleisch.

Westfleisch, which was originally established in 1928 as a livestock marketing cooperative, is Germany’s third largest meat marketer and is based in Muenster. It has 1,900 employees.

Danish Crown’s history as a cooperative goes back to the late 19th century and the cooperative currently has a turnover of some DKK 45 billion.