Co-op members vote on joint venture to manage milk processing

Glanbia will announce the results of the first vote by 7,800 co-op members on a proposal to establish a new joint venture company at 12pm today.

Backed by farm groups such as the IFA and ICMSA, as well as umbrella co-op body ICOS, the expectation is that shareholders who visited voting stations across the south-east and east have approved the deal. Two further votes in the coming weeks are also expected to support the 60:40 joint venture between the PLC and the co-op, under which the co-op will effectively fund and manage the anticipated expansion of milk processing after 2015.

Nonetheless, with some shareholders having voiced their resistance at recent information meetings hosted by Glanbia, the company is not thought to be taking the outcome for granted.

At the time of going to print, the voter numbers were said to be high, boosted in part by bad weather keeping on-farm activity to a minimum.

Ahead of the vote, IFA president John Bryan voiced support for the joint venture: “It is very important that the deal works for all categories of shareholders. The second vote will be particularly important for dry shareholders. Nobody has presented an alternative proposal to the one on the table that better deals with the issues while facilitating all interests and views.”

The IFA elected officers in the Glanbia area had a comprehensive briefing from Deloitte on the key financial aspects of the deal, and were presented with a report from pensions experts Eversheds. Mr Bryan said farmers had appreciated the information that had been made available, as it had helped to clarify the issues.

“The deal is fair and balanced, and if it receives the support of Glanbia shareholders, it will open the door to more meaningful joint industry projects to improve the competitiveness of the sector in the best interests of all Irish dairy farmers.”