The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) today issued confirmation that it has cleared the proposed merger of Arrabawn Co-Operative Society and Tipperary Co-Operative Creameries Limited to form a new co-operative society to be called Arrabawn Tipperary Co-Operative Society Limited.
Both co-ops will now proceed to complete the merger with a target date of next Friday 28th February with Conor Ryan the CEO of Arrabawn to become the CEO of the new larger entity. It is understood that John Hunter, the current CEO of Tipperary Co-Operative will remain with the new Co-Op. The new dairy and agri-trading co-operative will be owned and controlled by over 4,800 members, with more than 1,400 farmers supplying almost 750 million litres of milk annually. The new entity will have projected annual turnover exceeding €700 million and is expected to make both organisations more sustainable with a more diverse product range. The merger is hugely beneficial for Tipperary Co-Op which faced financial challenges due to borrowings of €55M in a period of increasing interest rates. In addition, adjustments to the processing point of the milk supply of the larger organisation may lead to an increase in intake at the Tipperary town plant as it is a state of the art dryer that can produce a range of products from milk that are used in the food industry.
