Irish Biscuits sale possible

The future of 435 jobs at Irish Biscuits in Dublin will come into focus on Thursday, when the firm's parent, Danone, issues its first-half results.

Danone is thought to be mulling a sale of the Dublin operation as part of its strategy of reviewing biscuit operations in all of its markets.

Irish Biscuits is best known in Ireland as the manufacturer of the Jacob's brand, which covers well-known products such as Jacob's Cream Crackers, Kimberley, Mikado and Coconut Creams.

A spokeswoman for Irish Biscuits declined to comment on the matter yesterday, with a spokeswoman for Jacob's in Britain similarly reticent.

Irish Biscuits was formed in the 1960s from the merger of Jacob's and Boland's Biscuits. It has an annual turnover of some €100 million, but this is tiny in the context of the €13 billion in sales recorded by Paris-based Danone last year.

Danone is the world's second-largest producer of biscuits, but its biscuit division has been performing poorly of late against competition from private-label operators.

London-based food analyst Mr Julian Hardwick of ABN Amro said yesterday that it was "entirely possible" that Jacob's would be sold off as Danone looks closely at all of its biscuits businesses. He said disposal would probably be the best option in the UK and the Republic, where Jacob's is based. "It's not growing very fast," he said.

It is unclear at this stage whether all Jacob's facilities could be sold as one block, or whether operations such as Irish Biscuits could be hived off separately.

Mr Hardwick said that this would probably depend on the level of buying interest that emerges for Jacob's, with McVitie's maker United Biscuits and private equity group Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst likely to be in the frame.

Mr Hardwick suggested that Danone may update the market on its intentions for Jacob's on Thursday.