Goodman takes 50% stake in Longford's C&D Foods

MULTI-MILLIONAIRE beef processor Larry Goodman has taken a 50 per cent stake in C&D Foods, the Co Longford pet food business owned by two sons of former taoiseach Albert Reynolds. Arthur Beesley,Senior Business Correspondent, reports.

While the full terms of the transaction were not disclosed, C&D said it will invest €30 million in a new "pouch single serve" petfood facility at its plant in Edgeworthstown after Mr Goodman's investment.

The investment follows a fire in January 2006, which destroyed the former cannery in the plant. While the cannery will not be rebuilt, C&D said the market share of pouch serve products grew by 15 per cent in the past two years.

The beneficiaries of the deal are Philip Reynolds, who has reduced his stake in C&D to 50 per cent from 90 per cent, and his brother Albert jnr, who sold his 10 per cent interest in the company. Philip Reynolds took ownership and management control of the organisation in 1990.

Mr Goodman is making the investment through his company Irish Food Processors (IFP), whose annual turnover exceeds €1.2 billion.

C&D had annualised sales of €100 million at the end of 2005. Turnover dropped to €60 million in 2006 after the fire, but the company made a pretax profit of €6.3 million that year. Accounts filed last year did not give the value of the insurance compensation received after the fire, but indicate it was in excess of €23.2 million. That sum did not include the cost of funding redundancies that arose as a result of the fire.

Some 265 permanent and 30 temporary staff lost their jobs after the fire. This left some 200 staff with the business in Longford.

C&D has recruited about 50 additional staff since then, and hopes to increase the overall level of employment as the new pouch plant comes on stream.

"Following the uncertainty arising from the 2006 fire this is great news for C&D Foods, our employees and for the town of Longford," Philip Reynolds said.

"In Irish Food Processors, we have a partner who understands our business and with whom we share numerous customers in the retail sector."

Mr Goodman said he was " very pleased to become associated with C&D Foods as it is one of Europe's leading operators in the petfood sector".

C&D said it will benefit from IFP's considerable strength in Ireland, Britain and Europe. "The investment will enable C&D to broaden its scope in terms of both its product offering and its geographical presence."