Lakeland and LacPatrick merger approved by shareholders

Each company operates on a cross-border basis

The shareholders of Lakeland and LacPatrick Dairies have voted resoundingly in favour of a merger.

The companies had received unanimous backing for the merger from their respective boards earlier in the month.

The proposed new co-operative would adopt the name Lakeland Dairies and will have a combined annual turnover of more than €1bn (£886,398,917).

Subject to regulatory approval, the merger is expected to be completed in early 2019.

At meetings on Tuesday, 97.24% of shareholders of Lakeland Dairies voted in favour of the merger while 95.99% of shareholders at LacPatrick Dairies backed the proposal.

Both companies entered into exclusive discussions on a possible merger in June.

Each operates on a cross-border basis and export the majority of products to global markets.

If the merger is approved, the new co-op will have a supplier base of more than 3,200 farmers producing a milk pool of more than 1.8bn litres annually - making it the second largest dairy co-operative in Ireland after Glanbia plc.

The proposed new co-operative will adopt the name Lakeland Dairies

Alo Duffy, chairman of Lakeland Dairies said: "The shareholders of both societies have created a great good for co-operative dairy farming. By combining our co-operatives and operations, we will continue our strong progress in a very meaningful way.

"The new society being formed through this merger will continue to be farmer owned and controlled while paying a sustainable and competitive milk price in line with market conditions into the future."

Andrew McConkey, chairman of LacPatrick Dairies added: "By voting in favour of the merger, we are confident that both the LacPatrick and Lakeland shareholders have created a sustainable platform for dairy production in the northern half of the country.

"This will create stability, scale, efficiency and further added value for our milk producers together with enhanced global market access for our high quality dairy products."

Monaghan-based LacPatrick Dairies was formed in 2015 following a merger of Ballyrashane Co-op and Town of Monaghan Co-op.

It now employs more than 400 people.

It has three processing plants on both sides of the Irish border at Monaghan, Ballyrashane, and Artigarvan which underwent a £30m expansion in 2017.

Lakeland Dairies also came about through a merger in 1990.

It employs more than 800 people across its food service, food ingredients, and agri-business divisions.

In September 2015 it opened a £8m global logistics centre in Newtownards, County Down.