Lorcan Allen: Time is running out for farmers to buy Kerry Group’s dairy arm

Talks between the farmer-controlled Kerry Co-op and the Kerry Group broke down in April. The group has restructured its dairy business and will probably try to sell it this year, but unless the Co-op can reorganise itself to return to negotiations, it may lose out

Kerry Group suspended the negotiations and there has been little contact between the sides in the intervening period. Picture: Philip Doyle

Time is running out for Kerry Co-op, the farmer-controlled investment company, to strike a deal with Kerry Group if it wants to buy the Group’s primary dairy business.

Kerry Group has completed a flurry of large deals in recent weeks, including the disposal of its consumer meats and ready meals business for €819 million, illustrating that Edmond Scanlon, its chief executive, is determined to press ahead with a major strategic realignment of the company away ...