THE property-to-food group Reox, that is 25% owned by Dairygold in north Cork, recorded huge losses in the year to June 30, 2010, of €30.7 million.

KERRY Group boss Stan McCarthy said yesterday a “multi-billion” euro takeover to enhance the group’s global reach in food ingredients/ flavours was a definite goal for the company.

REOX chairman Flor Riordan has stepped down from that position on the company’s board, it was confirmed yesterday.

THE man who has been on hunger strike for a week over redundancy terms has vowed to continue his protest through Christmas.

A MAN began a hunger strike yesterday in an effort to force a better redundancy package from his employers.

FOOD giant Kerry Group was criticised last night for deciding to shut a sophisticated butter making plant, resulting in the loss of 29 jobs.

SOME 150 jobs have been lost with the closure of seven 4-Home DIY and homeware stores countrywide in recent months.

DAIRYGOLD has refused to comment on reports its former chief executive Jerry Henchy is suing the co-operative for up to €3 million in a dispute over the alleged non-payment of his severance package.

THE profit warning from Glanbia, the publicly-quoted international dairy group late last week, has heightened interest in the results for 2008 expected this week from Dairygold.

THE CompetitionAuthority is facing a substantial legal costs bill following its unsuccessful High Court defence of its refusal to permit theacquisition by the Kerry Group of Breeo, the consumer foods company formed following the restructuring of Dairygold.

THE intervention of Tánaiste Mary Coughlan was sought yesterday to have the Competition Authority drop its Supreme Court appeal against a High Court decision allowing the Kerry Group takeover of Breeo Foods.

A CRISIS meeting between dairy farmers and Dairygold took place last night where farmers pleaded with the dairy giant to reverse milk price cuts which made dairying uneconomic.

THE deterioration in the trading outlook for both Dairygold Co-op and Reox Holdings has raised major concerns among farmers.

THE High Court has overturned the competition watchdog’s ruling preventing the Kerry Group’s original €165m takeover over of Breeo Foods consumer brands.

JERRY Henchy’s removal first as boss of Dairygold in January 2009 and then as chief executive of Reox yesterday points to a deep crisis within the overall group.

IT has been a turbulent few weeks for Jerry Henchy. In an unexpected announcement he was told at the end of January that his services as chief executive of Dairygold were no longer required.

FORMER boss of Dairygold Co-op Jerry Henchy has been removed as chief executive of Reox Holdings, which was spun out from the dairy operation in 2006.

NO suspension of share trading in Reox is expected following yesterday’s announcement that a number of management posts — including that of chief executive Jerry Henchy — are to be scrapped and “absorbed” into a revised management structure as a cost-saving measure.

THE former boss of Dairygold Co-op, Jerry Henchy, has been removed as chief executive of Reox Holdings, yet no explanation has been give to shareholders, employees or customers.

REOX Holdings has seen operating profits plunge from e20.8 million to e5.6m in the year to September 30, 2008.

KERRY Group is set to challenge the ruling from the Competition Authority that blocks its €165 million purchase of the food brands owned by Reox, the Dairygold spin-off.

LEGAL proceedings have been initiated in the High Court by the managing director of Carraighdubh Holdings Ltd, Michel Hogan, aimed at preventing Reox Holdings plc, formerly Dairygold, from confirming his dismissal or from replacing him.

ION Equity, owners of Topaz petrol stations, has dismissed rumours of an impending sale of its SWS subsidiary.

REOX may be forced back into the marketplace to seek a repeat deal offering the “compelling value” which had swung its decision to sell its Breeo division to Kerry Group.

THE Competition Authority is currently deliberating on two takeovers in the food and drinks sector.

KERRY Group could be on the brink of taking over the Irish consumer food division of Reox Holdings, previously owned by Dairygold Co-op.

WITH fears growing that the world economy is heading for recession, looking at the share prospects, or indeed the outlook, for the Irish food sector could hardly be described as a tantalising prospect.

REOX Holdings is close to a deal with Kerry Group, worth in the region of €170 million, for the sale of its Irish-based consumer foods division, run by its Breeo Foods subsidiary.

THE rapidly evolving nature of food in all its guises has been put under the microscope for the past few days at the sixth Annual World Food Technology and Innovation Forum being held for the fourth successive year in Dublin.

ION Equity is in talks with Reox Holdings that could lead to the €200 million purchase of its consumer brands that include Galtee, Dairygold, Mitchelstown, Shaws and Calvita.

IAWS, one of the country’s leading convenience food groups, has been linked to a €150m buyout of the consumer brands formerly owned by Dairygold Co-op.

THE possible sale of the Irish consumer foods business of Breeo Foods could realise more than €200 million, industry sources predicted yesterday.

SUPPLIERS to supermarkets will struggle to sustain their margins as the big players in the Irish retail sector fight for market share.

DIY AND homewares group 4HOME Superstores is set to hit its target of 600 employees by the year’s end following the opening of its 12th store.

THE Netherlands has been targeted for major development by the consumer division of Reox Holdings, which has made substantial Dutch investments in recent years.

A PUBLIC meeting will be held in Mitchelstown tonight in a bid to save the former Galtee meats plant from closure with the loss of 70 jobs.

THE former Galtee meats plant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, is to be closed over the coming months with the loss of 70 jobs.

GETTING the operational formula right in the Irish dairy sector has been a constant challenge.

INDUSTRIAL action is looming in a dispute at Breeo Foods in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, following a vote by workers yesterday.

AS a movement, farming co-ops have had an impact on the Irish economy way beyond what Horace Plunkett could have imagined when he founded the movement in the 19th century.

THE future of the Galtee Meats plant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was in doubt last night, despite an assurance by Reox Holdings that there are no plans at present to cease manufacturing operations in the town.

Roex Holding — the new business unit spun out from Dairygold Co-op last year — has announced its first major acquisition after spending €10m to take over a Dutch meat company.

DAIRYGOLD Co-op has been accused by farmers’ leader Padraig Walshe of making the wrong move in separating profitable activities from milk processing when setting up its Reox subsidiary last year.

LEADING figures of the four west Cork Co-ops met yesterday amid speculation that the Ion Equity bid of over €100m for SWS of Bandon had hit a snag.