Kerry Co-op has until the end of January to decide whether or not to acquire Kerry Agribusiness from Kerry Group, according to Radio Kerry.
The Co-op is the largest shareholder in Kerry Group, and the deadline to exercise the option to acquire was agreed upon back in 2002.
The option does not guarantee automatic acquisition of the business, but instead, it will simply begin the process of evaluation.
It would still require Kerry Co-op shareholders to give the green light.
Shareholder Decision
According to Radio Kerry, only 22% of shareholders responded to the Co-op, with only 27% of which giving support.
Speaking on Radio Kerry, secretary of the co-op board Thomas Hunter McGowan said that the Co-op has “a duty of care to make sure that we properly evaluate the option before we make any decision on it”.
“It’d only be on the basis of evidence that we’d make an informed decision about what we want to do with it,” he said.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
