Irish dairy co-operative Ornua has sold a majority stake in its US food distribution business, DPI Specialty Foods, to private-equity firm Arbor Investments in order to reallocate resources to its core business.
The company, which will retain a minority interest in DPI, said it is focusing its investments on “enhanced routes to market” for Irish dairy products in markets such as the US, UK, Germany, the Middle East, Africa and China.
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“The sale of a majority stake in DPI allows us reinvest the significant proceeds in our core business of building routes to market for Irish dairy products. 2015 has seen our group make a series of investments in Spain, the US, the UK, Germany and Nigeria, each delivering value for our member co-ops and dairy farmers,” CEO Kevin Lane said.
The financial details of the transaction, which closed yesterday (14 December), were not disclosed.
Ornua said it identified Arbor as an “optimal equity partner” capable of driving continued growth at DPI. The distributor’s existing management team will remain in place and the business will continue to operate its eight distribution facilities, the group added.
“DPI has an impressive thirty-year record of profitably driving customer sales growth through individualised programmes that combine best-in-class product selection, logistics and merchandising with a highly-focused and flexible service model,” said Alan Weed of Arbor Investments. “With a diverse network of national and international vendors, DPI has the pulse of specialty food trends, particularly in the dynamic gourmet, perishable, specialty, natural, organic, local and ethnic foods categories that retail customers and discriminating consumers demand.”
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By GlobalDataRuss Blake, DPI’s president and CEO, added: “A unique specialty food product offering is the lifeblood of successful grocers. DPI’s service-centric model, providing a full suite of individually-tailored solutions, sets us apart from our competitors. Arbor understands our value proposition and is a hand-in-glove fit with our company. We are enthusiastic about unlocking DPI’s potential.”
Earlier this month, Ornua, formerly known as The Irish Dairy Board, opened a plant in Nigeria that will pack powdered milk sold under the Kerrygold brand in the local market.
