CEO of Kerry group reflects on sale: 'Today marks a significant step in Kerry's history..supporting our financial objectives of continued market outperformance, strong margin progression and delivering greater returns for our shareholders'

Kerry Group has completed a €500m deal to sell a dairy business whose consumer brands include Cheestrings, Dairygold and Kerrymaid.

The group has completed phase one of its disposal of Kerry Dairy Holdings to Kerry Co-Operative Creameries Limited.

Kerry Dairy Ireland consists of Dairy Consumer Products, with its range of 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 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.

The Kerry Co-Operative Creameries members will become direct owners of Kerry shares equivalent to 85% of the Co-Op's current shareholding. The remaining 15% of the Co-Op's shareholding in Kerry will be redeemed as part of the consideration for the disposal, following which the Co-Op will cease to be a shareholder in Kerry and Kerry's issued share capital will reduce by approximately 2.9 million shares.

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Edmond Scanlon, chief executive of Kerry Group said: "Today 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."

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