Irish food group Origin Enterprises has taken full control of Odlums, the well-known producer of flour and oat-based products.
Origin will pay €35 million to acquire the 50 per cent shareholding owned by listed Irish food group Greencore. It has also agreed to absorb €10 million of Odlums' net debt that was attributable to Greencore.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval from the Competition Authority. A spokesman for Origin said it would be "business as usual" for Odlums' 190 staff. Odlums has flour milling plants in Dublin, Cork and Portarlington.
Listed on the IEX market in Dublin, Origin is a spin-off from IAWS, the successful quoted food group. Its operations include the well-known Shamrock Foods and Roma ambient consumer brands.
Odlums generated sales of €75.8 million in the year ending September 29th, 2006. It had net assets of €15.8 million at that date and bank debt of €18.6 million. No profit figure was released but analysts estimate that it had earnings before interest and tax of about €6 million last year.
Origin's chief executive Tom O'Mahony said Odlums was an "excellent fit" and would complement its existing food brands.
The deal gives Origin ownership of a two-acre site in the south docks area of Cork. Origin now owns 32 acres in this area, which is expected to be redeveloped over the coming years.
Greencore said the deal would earn it a net profit of €23 million. The company said it plans to use the funds to reduce its net debt, which stood at €393 million at the end of March.
The sale of Odlums follows the closure of Greencore's sugar business last year.
It leaves the company with a large UK-based convenience foods arm, three small agri-businesses, a malt subsidiary and a property division that has a potential 1,000 acres for development in Britain and Ireland.
