BREAKING: Voters back Kerry Co-op's €500m purchase of Kerry Group's dairy division

KERRY Co-op has announced that members have voted in favour of the proposal to acquire Kerry Dairy Ireland and a share exchange with Kerry Group. 

The proposal was approved by 82% of eligible members present at a special general meeting of the co-op held this Monday in Killarney, Co. Kerry. 

Commenting, James Tangney, chairman of Kerry Co-op, said he was very pleased that the A&B shareholders of Kerry Co-op have voted in favour of the proposal. 

“Today’s acceptance commences a journey that will ultimately lead to the full ownership of Kerry Dairy Ireland, one of the leading dairy businesses in the country, while its also releases c.85% 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,” said Mr Tangney.  

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He said the transaction is “transformational for Kerry Co-op and satisfies the diverse aspirations of the vast majority of our 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,” said Mr Tangney.