Vote on €500m Kerry deal puts end to ‘difficulties and uncertainty’: Limerick IFA chair

THE COMPREHENSIVE majority of 82% in favour of the acquisition of Kerry Dairy Ireland's milk processing, consumer products and agri inputs divisions puts an end to the difficulties and uncertainty that dominated supplier conversations in recent years, according to Limerick IFA chairperson Sean Lavery.

On Monday last, Kerry Co-op members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed €500m deal to acquire Kerry Dairy Ireland and a share exchange with Kerry Group.

Mr Lavery said: “An opportunity has now opened up for farmers who once again own their own processing facilities, a business owned by farmers for themselves as farmers, to deliver a competitive milk price, to create a business with a strong balance sheet, to develop a business strategy with sustainable future, and a co-op that they can have belief in.”

He said the board of the new joint venture has both challenges to overcome and opportunities to exploit and he wishes them good fortune on this journey.

The special general meeting of the co-op held was this in the Gleneagle Hotel's INEC in Killarney with large numbers of Kerry milk suppliers from county Limerick travelling to the Kingdom for the vote.

Commenting, James Tangney, chairman of Kerry Co-op, said on Monday that 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.  

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.

The deal also offers a route for the farmers and other shareholders to turn €1.4 billion worth of co-op shares into cash. Up to now, they were reliant on an unofficial or so-called grey market to trade co-op shares, or on redemption schemes run twice yearly.

It also allows a €50 million fund to be put in place by Kerry Group to finally resolve a long-running milk price dispute.

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Shareholders were asked to vote yes or no to the package of proposals.

Of the 5,577 shareholders who were eligible to vote, 2,372 members voted, with 82.42% voting in favour of the deal, reported RTE.

The resolution had to be carried by two-thirds of those who vote, plus one, in order to be passed.