A surge in deals between US and Irish companies led to a 32 per cent increase in the value of mergers and acquisitions in the food and drink sector last year, according to research to be released by Grant Thornton today.
The Smart Money in Food Beverage report found these acquisitions were worth €726 million last year. There were 10 major transactions between the US and Ireland, compared to just two in 2011. Kerry Group, Glanbia, Greencore and CC all made purchases in the US last year.
CC’s €235 million acquisition of the Vermont Hard Cider company was the biggest outbound US transaction last year, while Glanbia’s €49 million purchase of nutrition drink group Aseptic Solutions was the second largest.
US acquisitions of Irish businesses included Hain Celestial’s €10 million acquisition of Cully Sully, the Cork-based producer of high-end ready meals.
Whiskey giant Beam also completed its purchase of Cooley Distillery in January 2012, and acquired the Louth-based 2 Gingers Whiskey in December.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/7e460536-4b39-4a5e-b74b-a115823c9e15.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)