Kerry Group has completed the first phase of the sale of its dairy processing business to Kerry Co-Operative Creameries Ltd, its largest shareholder.
The sale, which is worth an estimated €500m, is taking place in two phases, with the co-op selling 15% of its 11% stake in Kerry Group and distributing the remainder of its holding to its members while also taking a 70% shareholding in Kerry Dairy Ireland.
Kerry redeemed and cancelled the more than 19m shares in the company owned by the co-op and issued nearly 16.2m in new shares to co-op members as part of the deal, resulting in the group's issued share capital falling by approximately 2.9m shares.
Edmond Scanlon, CEO of Kerry Group, said the transaction "marks a significant step in Kerry's history, becoming a pure play global business to business taste and nutrition company, with sustainable nutrition at its core, while also supporting our financial objectives of continued market outperformance, strong margin progression, and delivering greater returns for our shareholders.
"I would like to recognise the Kerry Dairy Ireland employees for their contribution to Kerry over the years and wish them the very best in the future."
Kerry Dairy Ireland consists of a dairy consumer products business, which produces cheese, cheese snacks, dairy snacks and dairy spreads, and a dairy ingredients business, which makes functional dairy proteins, nutritional dairy bases and cheese systems, and provides related agribusiness products and services.
Kerry Dairy Ireland has six dairy manufacturing facilities in Ireland and the UK. Its brands include Cheestrings, Dairygold, Golden Cow, Kerrymaid, and Low Low.
Kerry Dairy Ireland generated revenue of close to €1.3bn, EBITDA of €53.4m and profit before tax of €32m in 2023, with net assets of €446m and gross assets of €562m.
The company, which employs over 1,500 staff, processes more than 1.1bn litres of milk per year from 2,740 farms across Munster and exports to around 58 countries worldwide.
Photo: Edmond Scanlon. (Pic: Sam Boal/ Rollingnews.ie)
