The food group IAWS has agreed to sell the last of the former Bolands Mills plants to ingredients producer All in All in a deal valued at between €2 million and €4 million.
All in All said yesterday that it had agreed to buy the flour blending and packaging plant in Blanchardstown, Dublin, from IAWS. Its statement did not give details of the price, but the deal is understood to be worth between €2 million and €4 million.
Under the agreement's terms, All in All will initially operate the plant in partnership with IAWS before taking it over. The parties have not agreed a final date for the takeover.
According to Mr Daniel Hickey, All in All's managing director, the company will begin by developing new business for the available extra capacity in the Blanchardstown plant.
All in All has been in business since 1993, and already has a plant at Parkwest Industrial Estate in Dublin. It supplies ingredients to the general food and meat processing industries and has customers in Ireland, Britain and continental Europe.
Around 30 per cent of its sales are exported. The company had €2.2 million in total assets at the end of August 2002.
It ultimately intends to use the plant to produce and sell a broad range of food ingredients. Mr Hickey said that combined with its existing operation, the Blanchardstown plant would allow it to supply the entire Irish food-ingredients market.
Bolands was wound up in late 2001. The Blanchardstown plant was the last of its plants and was used largely to blend and package flour for third parties.
Its main customer was Odlums, the Republic's largest milling business, which IAWS and Greencore operate as a joint venture.
Mr Hickey said All in All would expand the range of prodcuts processed at the former Bolands plant. He added that the need for consolidation within the food industry would give his company the opportunity to market the plant's unused capacity.
