The question and answer session at Thursday night’s information meeting for Kerry Co-op shareholders in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, included an address by Seamus Crawford, the director of the co-op who resigned following the buyout proposal.

He asked the approximately 200 members of the audience to “press the pause button on December 16” as he couldn’t agree with the valuation placed on the business.

In calling for a no vote, he said that the dairy business across Ireland has been through huge changes in recent years and that there now is excess stainless steel in the country.

“There is no other customer for this business,” he said. “We need to get a better deal.”

Milk price

He said that as there would be no other money in the business, the only variable available would be the milk price.

He suggested that the board had been pressurised by Kerry Group’s “scare tactics” where they were told “the plc would sell off bits of the business”. He also said that if there was a no vote, “there would be nothing lost”.

“You will still own all your shares. We’re not falling off a cliff, the world is not going to end.”

His comments were met with what was by far the loudest round of applause of the night, with cheers from some members of the audience.

In reply to Crawford’s comments on the valuation, Simon MacAllister from EY said: “The valuation is based on due diligence, which was presented to the board and which justifies the valuation which we have come up with. It has a basis, which we have explained to you tonight and has a lot of analysis behind it.

We have numbers thrown out, literally just plucked from the air, and they’re not helpful to you

“A couple of nights ago, we have numbers thrown out, literally just plucked from the air, and they’re not helpful to you.

"They are just confusing and, in some cases, they are deliberately misleading. There are WhatsApps going around with numbers which do not have any basis in reality.

“There is no going back to get a better deal… there is no pause button, that is an eject or a self-destruct button.”

'Regain control'

Chair of Kerry Co-op James Tangney said that the consumer foods business of Kerry Dairy Ireland alone would be worth €500m.

In his closing address to the room, Tangney called on members to vote in favour of the proposal, which he said would allow them to regain control of their dairy processing.

He admitted that milk suppliers in Co Limerick probably have other options for places to send their milk, but he didn’t see why they would move, as Kerry would be paying a very competitive milk price.

He said it was a decision for each individual milk supplier to make up their own mind where they sent their milk once their current contract ended.

One member of the audience said “that will be the real vote on this deal” - a comment Tangney did not disagree with.