CEO of Glanbia Co-op Jim Bergin will address an online meeting of farmers, organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), on the proposed restructuring of Glanbia.
The CEO will be joined by Glanbia Co-op’s chief agribusiness growth officer, Sean Molloy, at the meeting which will take place next Monday, December 13, at 8:00p.m.
There, they will field questions from farmers ahead of Glanbia Co-op’s special general meeting (SGM) on Friday, December 17.
During this SGM, eligible shareholders will vote on the co-op’s proposal to take full ownership of Glanbia Ireland (GI).
IFA dairy chairman, Stephen Arthur, said the online meeting will give suppliers the opportunity to get clarity on any outstanding questions they may have in advance of the vote on Friday.
“It’s a complex financial arrangement that requires careful scrutiny before members vote on the proposals,” he said.
“Glanbia has a three-billion-litre milk pool and takes in 270,000t of grain each year. It’s a major processor and buyer of what farmers produce, so they should be a market leader in price,” he said.
“Whatever new structure may emerge, it has to return a leading price to the farmers. The business must seek to extract the maximum value from the market for the quality product that we sell to them,” he said.
IFA grain chairman, Mark Browne, said grain farmers would expect any new arrangement, if it goes ahead, to pay a leading price for the quality grains supplied by farmers.
New Glanbia €50m buy-back programme commences
Meanwhile, Glanbia plc has announced that, from today (Wednesday, December 8), it will commence a share buy-back programme of up to €50 million in Glanbia plc ordinary shares.
The purpose of the share buy-back programme is to reduce the share capital of the company.
The scheme will finish three business days prior to the company’s next annual general meeting, which is expected to be held in May 2022.
Commenting, Siobhan Talbot, group managing director of Glanbia plc said:
“Glanbia will deliver strong operating cashflow this year while continuing to invest in growth opportunities and shareholder returns.
“In line with our capital allocation policy, today we are launching a new share buyback programme of up to €50 million given the continued strong cash performance of the business in 2021.”
Davy has been appointed to act as principal in relation to the purchase of the company’s shares.
According to the plc, “under the terms of the agreement, Davy will make purchases of the shares under the buy-back programme independently of, and uninfluenced by, the company”.