Glanbia announced on Wednesday morning that it has agreed to sell its share of Glanbia Cheese to Leprino Foods Company, its joint-venture partner in the operations, for €160m.

Depending on performance over the coming years, Glanbia may earn an extra €25m from the deal. The disposal covers the manufacturing facilities in Llangefni in Wales, Magheralin in Northern Ireland and Portlaoise.

Glanbia Cheese CEO Paul Vernon said: “Glanbia Cheese is a strong, well-invested business with an excellent team and deep customer and supplier relationships.

“We are excited by this proposed transaction which will see us align our business into Leprino Foods, the largest and most successful mozzarella business in the world.”

Glanbia plc CEO Siobhán Talbot said: “From the plc’s perspective the logic of this transaction is clear as it allows us to focus on our core better nutrition strategy and to allocate further capital to our global growth businesses.

“We have had a long and successful partnership with Leprino Foods, and we wish Paul and the entire team every success for the next chapter of the business.”

The cheese facility in Portlaoise began production in 2021. Glanbia Cheese employs 500 people across its three plants and is the leading mozzarella manufacturer in Europe.