The €500m proposal was approved by 82 per cent of eligible members present at a at a special general meeting (December 16) in Killarney, Co. Kerry. James Tangney, chair of Kerry Co-op said the approval commences a journey that will ultimately lead to the full ownership of Kerry Dairy Ireland. “It also releases around 85 per cent of Kerry Co-op’s Kerry Group shares into the hands of our members to be retained or sold by each of them at a time of their choosing.” He said the transaction is ‘transformational for Kerry Co-op and satisfies the diverse aspirations of the vast majority of members’.
“Working in partnership with Kerry Group, the focus of the Kerry Dairy Ireland Board will be to transition the business to that of a Co-op ethos and build further on the strong commercial platform in place to deliver sustainable returns in the months and years ahead for all our members. We look forward to working with Pat Murphy, CEO of Kerry Dairy Ireland, and his accomplished leadership team to make this a reality.”
Kerry Dairy Ireland consists of dairy consumer products, with its leading range of well-loved brands across cheese, cheese snacks, dairy snacks and dairy spreads which can be found in chilled cabinets across retailers in the UK and Ireland. It also comprises the dairy ingredients business, which is a leading provider of Irish dairy ingredients including functional dairy proteins, nutritional dairy bases and cheese systems, along with the provision of related agribusiness products and services.