Joint Venture With Glanbia PLC’s Dairy Division Will Establish Glanbia Ireland

23 May 2017 --- Glanbia co-operative society’s shareholders have voted in favor of the proposal to establish a joint venture to be known as Glanbia Ireland and the deal is due to close in early July 2017. The approval came at an extraordinary general meeting that took place in Kilkenny on Monday.

This approval means that Glanbia co-op will fund the acquisition of the 60 per cent share of dairy Ireland while the €40 million worth of member support will be funded through the sale of roughly 8.7 million shares in Glanbia plc.

“I’m delighted that Glanbia members have voted overwhelmingly in favor of taking a majority stake in Glanbia’s consumer and agri-businesses. It’s an historic day for our co-op and the proposed formation of Glanbia Ireland is an exciting development for Glanbia farmers,” said Henry Corbally, chairman of Glanbia co-op.

“We’re all proud of what Glanbia has achieved in recent years and the decisions taken today will ensure that the co-op is in a very strong position to face the future with confidence,” he added.

Glanbia boss Siobhán Talbot appears to have learnt from predecessor John Maloney, who tried and failed to get a similar deal across in 2010.

Under the new deal, the co-op will only have to reduce its stake in the plc to 31.5 per cent to fund the acquisition of a controlling stake in the new dairy business, which will hold brands like Premier, Avonmore and Kilmeaden.

From the plc point of view, this will focus on the higher-margin consumer trend products and the performance nutrition side of the business.

It will bolster the company for future acquisitions, which has been key to its recent success.