Glanbia Co-op begins postmortem over failed €343 million buyout bid

A POSTMORTEM on the failed €343 million proposed buyout of the Irish interests of Glanbia plc by the co-op has started.

It is being conducted by the company in a series of regular meetings of members through its representative structure. The buyout proposal was narrowly rejected a special general meeting of Co-op shareholders in Kilkenny earlier this month.

Despite a 73% majority of members voting in favour of the acquisition, the proposal failed as it did not secure the 75% approval required under the Co-op’s rules.

Glanbia plc chairman Liam Herlihy told its annual general meeting in Kilkenny yesterday that the process regarding the proposal was now concluded.

He said a postmortem was being carried out by the co-op. It was right and proper that this process should take place, he said and would take about a month.

The 73% support represented a very strong vote in favour of the proposal, but he was disappointed it did not reach the 75% threshold. But he had no regrets about the initiative being undertaken.

“The board and management are fully committed to driving Glanbia forward for the benefit of all stakeholders and look forward with confidence to a strong outlook for 2010,” he said.

Glanbia group managing director, John Moloney, said that the plc will reflect on any view that might come back from the co-op board representative structure meetings.

The €2.1 billion global nutritional ingredients and cheese group reported to the AGM it is having a very strong first half.

Recovery in global dairy markets has led to a significant improvement in the group’s operating environment. And the benefits of an ongoing rationalisation programme and strong cost managements are flowing through.

In its recent interim management statement, the group upgraded the outlook for the full year, revising 2010 adjusted earnings per share guidance to mid-teens earnings growth.