ABP is set to take a 50% stake in Slaney Foods, the parent company of both Slaney Meats and Irish Country Meats (ICM), in what would be a major move within the Irish meat processing industry.

Slaney Foods is a joint venture formed in 2000 between Linden Foods, a northern Irish meat processor, and the Allen family, the original founders of the Slaney company. ABP will acquire the Allen family’s 50% stake in Slaney, creating a new partnership with Linden.

Slaney currently accounts for about 6% of the national cattle kill while ICM processes 40% of the Irish sheep kill. The acquisition will see ABP move into sheep slaughtering in the Republic of Ireland for the first time in a good many years.

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