Linden Foods is an award winning fresh meat processor with facilities in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, Burradon, England, and Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Last October, the European Commission approved a bid by ABP Food Group to acquire a 50 percent stake in Wexford, Ireland-based Slaney Foods and its sheep meat processing division, Irish Country Meats.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement in principle with Fane Valley Co-Op and look forward to building on our successful partnership with Slaney Foods and Irish Country Meats,” said Frank Stephenson, chief executive of ABP Food Group.
“Linden Foods is a growing company within the UK red meat sector, delivering the highest levels of innovation, quality, service and value to its long established customer base,” said Trevor Lockhart, chief executive of Fane Valley Co-op, “The business continually challenges the way it works, seeking out new ways to advance and improve. Our experience of working closely with ABP Food Group in the Republic of Ireland has been extremely positive and we now wish to build on this success.
The Joint Venture, which will continue to trade as Linden Foods under the current management team, will ensure that the business can capitalize on new commercial growth opportunities within both the domestic and international market place. The involvement of ABP will strengthen our global sales network and assist in ensuring Linden maximizes the returns from all parts of the animal, including the 5th quarter. This will be a prerequisite to delivering sustainable returns to primary producers in a post-Brexit era.”
