ABSTRACT
Marel is a private global market leader of advanced equipment and systems for the food-processing industry. Marel is proud of its multinational heritage. The company traces its roots as far back as the 1930s and across several countries, including Iceland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States. The Icelandic part of the company, from which the Marel name originates, was established in Iceland in 1983 and has grown rapidly on the basis of a dynamic organizational culture and simple hierarchy. Marel has escalated its sales and revenues through the acquisition of three rival companies since 2006, one each in Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The focus of this case will be on the May 2008 acquisition of the Dutch company Stork Food Systems, which had been part of Stork B.v., a 132-year-old Dutch conglomerate. Both Marel and Stork were highly successful companies, but the different cultures and national backgrounds made the merger challenging in many respects. The aim of Marel is to fully harness the potential synergies from the integration of the two companies and to present one common “face” to the customer.
