Golden Vale, now owned by Kerry Group, has sold its stake in the Northern Ireland liquid milk group, Dale Farm Dairies, for €5.9 million (£4.65 million).

Golden Vale had a 20 per cent stake in Dale Farm, with Express Dairies holding 80 per cent, but the entire company has now been sold to Dromona Quality Foods, a subsidiary of the United Dairy Farmers' co-op, for £18.25 million sterling (€29.28 million) in cash.

A spokesman for Kerry said that the sale had been in progress while the Kerry bid for Golden Vale was proceeding. He said that having a 20 per cent interest in a company was not part of Kerry's business plan.

The spokesman would not comment on whether the sale of the interest in Northern Ireland would be followed by the sale of Golden Vale's Martins liquid milk business in Wales. But analysts believe the Welsh milk business does not fit in with Kerry's plans and is likely to be offloaded.