McCarrens and Kepak await Authority’s ruling

Both Cavan pork manufacturers McCarren’s & Company and food processing group Kepak are awaiting final approval from the Competition Authority before a majority shareholding deal can go through.

As revealed first by The Anglo-Celt back in April of this year when rumours first began circulating locally that a potential takeover was in the offing, official confirmation of a deal was made last week when the companies released a joint statement explaining Kepak’s buying the majority shareholding.

The McCarren family, who have been in the meat business for over five generations, since 1860, will remain on as minority shareholder.

Andrew McCarren, managing director of McCarren’s said: “The McCarren family welcome the Kepak investment and the continuing support of Ulster Bank. We look forward to leveraging the Kepak Group market presence in all the key markets to open up new opportunities for McCarren’s and all the staff and suppliers associated with McCarren & Company.”

Speaking to The Anglo-Celt he said the family were delighted with the deal proposed and added they now look forward to working to develop the company with the Clonee-headquartered Kepak in the future.

The approach is Kepak’s first major foray in terms of acquisition in the Irish pig meat sector. The Anglo-Celt understands as part of negotiations Kepak representatives had visited the Cavan processing plant on a number of occasions over the past number of months.

A major boost from the deal going through will be that it will provide further security for the180 staff members currently employed, not to mention for the livelihoods of pig suppliers in the region.

The ‘McCarren’ brand will remain meanwhile, Mr McCarren told The Anglo-Celt, and added that the factory shop located at the site will also be kept in place.

Kepak is one of the country’s largest food processors with reported annual sales of about €750,000 and 2,000 staff. Its biggest customers include Burger King and it supplies beef to the restaurant chain’s Irish and a number of British outlets.

McCarren’s supply pork, ham and bacon to Europe, Russia, Asia and Africa, with sales of €40m last year.

Kepak says the McCarren business will complement its own existing strategy which aims to build chill meats sales in Ireland and the rest of the EU.

Earlier this year the company bought ABP Group’s Silvercrest manufacturing facility. Its own meat division processes over 300,000 cattle and 1.5 million lambs per year.

John Horgan, managing director, Kepak Group said: “We look forward, subject to Competition Authority approval, to working with the staff and suppliers at McCarren’s and to integrating the business into the Kepak chilled meat business over the coming months.”

The verdict on the deal from Competition Authority is due in the coming months.