Greencore, Northern Foods to merge into €2bn company

GREENCORE and British based Northern Foods are to merge, creating a €2 billion company.

Shares in the Irish group rose sharply and were up almost 29% or 30 cent to €1.34 at the close.

Patrick Coveney, chief executive of Greencore, who spearheaded the negotiations, will take over as boss of the new entity, to be known as Essenta Foods.