FDBusiness.com

Glanbia plc and US-based Leprino Foods Company have signed a non-binding agreement for Leprino Foods to acquire full ownership of Glanbia Cheese, a leading mozzarella maker in Europe, comprising Glanbia Cheese UK and Glanbia Cheese EU. Glanbia Cheese operates three manufacturing facilities – Llangefni in Wales, Magheralin in Northern Ireland and Portlaoise, Ireland. Post completion, the existing team will continue to manage the business, led by CEO Paul Vernon and his senior management team, with no disruption to day-to-day operations. 

It is expected that Glanbia plc will receive initial cash consideration in excess of €160 million (inclusive of repayment of shareholder loans) for the sale of its stake in Glanbia Cheese, with the possibility of additional contingent consideration of up to €25 million over the next three years, dependent on business performance.

Mike Durkin, President and CEO of Leprino Foods, commented: “Having successfully partnered with Glanbia since 2000, we are proud of the high-quality business that we have helped build. We look forward to working with Paul Vernon and the local team to ensure a seamless transition for our employees, customers and suppliers. We intend to take advantage of our combined expertise, knowledge and strengths to further enhance the business and are committed to ongoing investments in the core capabilities and the talented people that set us apart from our competition. We thank Glanbia for their valued partnership and wish them continued success.”

Siobhán Talbot, Group MD Glanbia plc, added: “Glanbia and Leprino Foods have enjoyed many years of successful partnership since our first Joint Venture was established. As we have evolved our portfolio at Glanbia in recent years, we have become very focused on our nutrition strategy, serving consumer health and wellness categories through our brands and ingredient solutions business. From the plc’s perspective the logic of this transaction is clear as it allows us to focus on our core better nutrition strategy and to allocate further capital to our global growth businesses. We have had a long and successful partnership with Leprino Foods, and we wish Paul and the entire team every success for the next chapter of the business.”

Paul Vernon, CEO Glanbia Cheese concluded: “Glanbia Cheese is a strong, well invested business with an excellent team and deep customer and supplier relationships. We are excited by this proposed transaction which will see us align our business into Leprino Foods, the largest and most successful mozzarella business in the world. Glanbia Cheese will be a strong fit within Leprino Foods, with its strategic focus on our category. We look forward to working with Leprino Foods to build on our success as a trusted supplier and business partner to our customers in the pizza category across the UK and Europe.”

Subject to the completion of due diligence and execution of definitive agreements, it is expected that the potential transaction will close in the first half of 2023.