Meat processor Loughnane’s is poised to buy rival Rudd’s

Meat processor Loughnane’s is poised to buy rival Rudd’s from the O’Brien Fine Foods group.

Sean Loughnane Galway Ltd confirmed on Monday that it has agreed to buy Crinkle Fine Foods, the company behind Rudd's, which makes sausages and puddings, from its current owner.

The pair have notified the deal to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which will have to approve the transaction before it can go ahead.

If the commission approved it, the sale should go through early next month. Neither side would reveal details of the price that Loughane’s is paying.

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Rudd's is based in Birr, Co Offaly and makes premium sausages, black and white puddings and rashers which it sells under its own brand. It also supplies own-label products to multiples such as Dunnes and Musgraves.

It is part of the family-owned Kildare-based O’Brien Fine Foods group, whose other brands include Brady Family Ham, which supplies cooked meat to supermarkets and delis. The group is mostly made up of unlimited companies, which are not obliged to publish accounts.

Family-owned business

Loughane's is also a family-owned business. It began with a butcher shop in Galway in the 1970s and graduated to manufacturing two decades later. The company is well-known, particularly in the west of Ireland and is also makes sausages and puddings.

It is based on the Tuam Road in Galway city and employs 170 people. According to its most recent accounts, Sean Loughnane Galway Ltd earned close to €1.6 million profit on sales of €25.65 million in 2015. Its net assets were €3.5million.

Managing director Daire Loughnane, who runs the company with his brother Eoin, said that its key focus is developing premium breakfast meats and saw Rudd's as a good fit. "We will be looking to drive the brand forward," he told The Irish Times.

In a statement Mr Loughnane noted that the acquisition of Crinkle Fine Foods was an investment in his company’s future.

“It allows us to reach a larger customer base, diversify our product portfolio and create the means to expand our business into new markets,” he said.

O’Brien Fine Foods managing director John O’Brien said that the sale would allow the group to focus on its cooked meat business.