Lisavaird Food Group to acquire Cork dairy spread specialist JDS

Lisavaird Food Group has agreed a deal to acquire butter and dairy spreads specialist JDS in a deal that industry analysts suggest could be worth more than €16 million. The transaction is subject to clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

The group has bought a number of businesses since it was established by the west Cork-based Lisavaird Co-operative Creamery as a vehicle for further expansion in the food industry.

It has emerged that Lisavaird has agreed to buy Cork City-based JDS Foods, which processes butter and produces spreads for sale to consumers and the catering industry.

State regulator

The deal is subject to the approval of the State’s regulator, the CCPC, which confirmed on Tuesday that the parties had told it of the transaction.

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Neither side revealed the purchase price. However, JDS has sales in the region of €16 million a-year and market analysts suggest that the value of a business would be in line with its turnover, or slightly higher.

Lisavaird Co-op has sales of more than €105 million a-year. Its subsidiary already owns bakery business Coolmore Fresh Foods, which supplies cakes to multiples in Ireland and Britain, meat processor Glen Aine and Glenmar Shellfish, which recently bought Carr's Seafood.

JDS has its own retail brands, including Dairymaid and Just Like Butter spreads, and cooking products Frytex and Garlic Gold.

Lisavaird confirmed that JDS’s management and staff would remain in place if the acquisition goes ahead.