Kerry Co-op has appointed RDJ LLP, a leading corporate law firm with more than 100 solicitors across offices in Cork, Dublin and Galway, to assist it to “expeditiously progress matters in relation to the arbitration process with Kerry Creameries Ltd.”

The arbitration process, which has been ongoing for a number of years involves Kerry Co-op “representing milk suppliers seeking the leading milk price”.

Arbitration seems to have become something of a roadblock for the co-op’s future strategy plans, with shareholders at the recent AGM of the society informed that the dispute would be resolved ahead of talks on any other matters with Kerry Group.

The AGM was told that the money owed to suppliers was 7.39c/l plus interest.

The appointment of RDJ can be seen as a significant move by the co-op to advance the arbitration process and efforts to come to a resolution. RDJ has experience in handling complex cases, with the company recently engaged to defend major international insurers against claims from aircraft leasing companies for planes stranded in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

Legal fees in that case, which began in the High Court in June, reportedly could run to hundreds of millions of euros.

While the fees for Kerry Co-op are not going to be anywhere near that level, the engagement of such a large, experienced firm with considerable expertise in dispute resolution certainly points to a fresh impetus from Kerry Co-op to resolve the long-running issue. The board of Kerry Co-op gave their sincere thanks to Terence F Casey & Co, based in Killarney, for its support and efforts in relation to the arbitration to date.