News milk
Farmers rich after split of Irish dairy company Kerry
The spin-off of the Kerry Group's Irish dairy operations has not only separated the original co-operative from the multinational, but has also made around a hundred farming families rich.
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The reason is that with the unbundling of the two companies, a share transaction was also agreed. The shares that were until recently in the hands of the Kerry cooperative were divided among the members, in proportion to their interest in the cooperative. Some of the 11.910 members had to make do with only a share package worth around €10.000, which is still a considerable amount.
However, a small group of about a hundred members received shares worth more than €1 million. One shareholder even received €5,6 million worth of shares. There was also something to divide, because the total package of the Kerry cooperative was worth €1,6 billion, still quite a lot more than estimated at the end of last year.
Kerry Dairy Co-operative is the third largest dairy processor in Ireland.