A former office building owned by Kerry Group in Charleville, Co. Cork has gone sale agreed for over its asking price.
The “red brick building” which is situated on the Kilmallock Road, opposite Kerry Group’s milk processing plant in the town, was placed on the market late last year with an asking price of €750,000.
The substantial commercial premises extending to 27,000 square feet (2,529m2) stands on 7ac and has extensive car parking to the rear.
Building
Originally operated by Golden Vale, the building on the outskirts of Charleville was taken over by Kerry Group in 2001.
In 2021, Kerry Group announced that a number of staff based in the building were being made redundant as the company expanded and centralised its shared services, such as finance, human resources and regulatory staff to Mexico and Malaysia.
Kerry said it had been “necessary to make organisational changes to reflect the evolution” of the group.
The sale of the Charleville office building is being handled by Derry Walsh of Sherry Fitzgerald Walsh in Charleville.
Walsh told Agriland that the sale is currently at contract stage and the final sale price will be in excess of €750,000.
He said there was a lot of interest in the commercial site both locally and from parties around the country.
The estate agent said that the premises offered a rare opportunity to acquire an office premises in close proximity to Limerick, Cork and Kerry.
Although he could not confirm the identity of the buyer or what the site will be used for in the future, Walsh said the new owner is “local enough”.
Kerry Group
Last month, Kerry Group reported a group revenue for 2023 of €8 billion, a decrease of €800 million on 2022, according to its results for last year.
The group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were €1.2 billion, largely unchanged from 2022, while EBITDA margin (EBITDA/total revenue) was 14.5%, a slight increase on 2022 (13.9%).
The group volume growth decreased slightly, by 0.9%, in 2023, following a 6.1% increase in 2022.
The company’s net cash from operating activities increased to over €1 billion last year, from €722 million in 2022.