Dairy Crest slashes stake in Wexford Creamery

13-Jun-2010 - Last updated on 14-Jun-2010 at 09:45 GMT

Dairy Crest has sold the bulk of its stake in Irish milk, cheese and cream maker Wexford Creamery to help pay off debts and reduce its exposure to “volatile commodity markets”.

The firm has reduced its stake in Wexford from 80% to 30%, while farmer-owned group Wexford Milk Producers has increased its stake from 20% to 70%.

“The transaction allows Dairy Crest to concentrate on its key brands and further reduces its exposure to volatile commodity markets in line with its strategy,” said Dairy Crest executive md Martyn Wilks.

Dairy Crest will retain a minority stake in the creamery and will continue to provide it with a range of services including packing and distribution, he said. It will also sell Wexford branded cheese in the UK on behalf of the creamery for a transitional period.

"We have enjoyed a long and positive relationship with Wexford Creamery through our joint ownership and this will continue. However the strategy of Dairy Crest's foods division is to increasingly focus on a small number of key brands and this transaction is another step in this direction.”

Dairy Crest will use the cash proceeds from the transaction of around €9m to repay bank debt.