The boards of Arrabawn Co-operative Society Limited (Arrabawn) and Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited (Tipperary) have today (Thursday, November 7) confirmed the joint decision to merge the two operations.
In September, the co-ops entered exclusive discussions to combine their operations to create a stronger entity within the Irish dairy industry.
The boards recently met separately in Nenagh and Tipperary to discuss the proposed amalgamation following the completion of thorough due diligence by independent experts on both sides.
The unanimous decision by the boards was put to respective milk supplying shareholders for approval this afternoon. It saw the required 75% plus vote in favour of the merger, with 94% of both memberships giving their approval.
The new merged co-op will be called Arrabawn Tipperary Co-operative Society Limited and will be a dairy and agri-trading co-operative.
Its formal establishment will require regulatory and other approvals, including from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
It is owned and controlled by over 4,800 members, with more than 1,400 milk suppliers supplying almost 750 million litres of milk annually. The co-op will have projected annual turnover exceeding €700 million.
Arrabawn and Tipperary co-op
Headquartered in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Arrabawn currently collects milk from over 1,000 shareholder farmers, generating a turnover of over €403 million per year.
It comprises food ingredients and agriculture business units that produce a range of B2B and dairy consumer products. These include food ingredients operations casein, skim milk powder, butter and whey.
Tipperary co-op has over 400 suppliers all situated within a 40km radius of the processing site.
It has a daily milk pool of over one million litres, allowing the production of a wide range of dairy products and ingredients such as cheese, milk, butter and powdered ingredients.
Tipperary co-op chair, William Ryan said: “We will have a valuable product mix with streamlined processes which is key to maximising milk price return. The resultant new Society will have the scale, facilities and financial strength to meet the challenges of the changing dairy industry.”
Chair of Arrabawn, Edward Carr said it is “a historic day” for the future of the organisation.