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“Boparan Private Office has agreed to acquire the Grove Farms Turkey business based in Monaghan, Ireland,” a spokesperson for the UK-based businessman said in a statement to the Irish Farmers Journal. “The acquisition is subject to clearance from the Competition Authority in Ireland. The existing Grove management team and staff will transfer and the business will continue to operate from its current site as part of the Boparan Private office.”
A spokesperson for Grove Turkeys has confirmed the agreement.
The merger is being conducted through the Irish-based company Amber Real Estate Investments (Ireland) Ltd, which was created specifically for the purposes of this transaction. Amber has notified the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which is inviting submissions on the competition aspects of the transaction until 26 April.
A spokesperson for 2 Sisters told the Irish Farmers Journal that the investment will be held by one of Boparan’s private holding companies and sit outside the British meat processing group.
Management buy-out
Grove Turkeys was founded by the Cosgrove brothers in 1972 and purchased by Kerry Group in 1988. Kerry then sold it through a management buy-out in 2006 to current managing director Thomas O’Driscoll, operations director Brendan Maguire and agricultural director Stephen O’Halloran.
Grove Turkeys had a turnover of €25m and processed 1m turkeys last year, according to company figures. It is known in the industry as Ireland’s largest turkey producer.
The planned merger is seen as an opportunity to expand in the UK, one of the export markets that has allowed Grove to look beyond the traditional Christmas Irish market in the past few years.
The company has integrated poultry rearing and processing operations in Smithboro, Co Monaghan, and supplies a range of poultry products to the retail and food service sectors. These include whole traditional and organic turkeys, as well as fresh and frozen cuts and processed foods.
Amy Fitzgibbon and Lorcan Allen contributed reporting for this story.
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