GREENCORE has moved to malting business with the substantially expand its £6.8 million acquisition of the Tullamore based Williams, Group.

The purchase includes the Midlands Maltings business in Banagher, Co Offaly and the Williams Waller agri trading business, operates in 10 locations in the midlands.

Greencore said it had received acceptances for its offer in respect of 52 per cent of the non voting ordinary shares and 75 per cent of the voting preference shares. Greencore chief executive, Mr David Dilger, said the £6.8 million offer was conditional on getting 80 per cent acceptances for both categories of shares, in which case Greencore could compulsorily acquire the outstanding shares.

Few financial details were revealed bin the Greencore statement and Mr Dilger would not expand on it. It is understood the Midlands Maltings "business had profits of around £750,000 last year although the agritrading business hit serious problems and reported losses, despite a generally buoyant year in the agri trading industry. It is understood Williams Waller suffered some substantial bad debts which hit profits. Overall, the Williams Group is thought to have annual sales of around £30 million.

The Midlands Malting business converts 45,000 tonnes of malting barley into 30,000 tonnes of malt a year, and about two thirds of this production is exported to international markets. It is thought the Williams malting business will add about 30 per cent to output from Greencore's Minch Norton and Belgomalt subsidiaries in Ireland and Belgium.

The Williams Waller agri trading business had a dreadful year in 1995 at a time when the industry in general was doing well. On this basis, it would seem that Greencore will take firm action to turn the business around if its bid is successful.

Williams Waller is involved in grain handling, feed milling and the sale of agricultural inputs and operates from 10 locations in the midlands - an area where Greencore's existing agri trading business is not well represented. Mr Dilger said Greencore would not sell any of the Williams Waller outlets - despite suggestions that groups like Avonmore might be keen to buy some of the outlets.

Analysts welcomed the acquisition, although it is unlikely to have any impact on earnings and profits in the first year because of likely restructuring costs at Williams Waller. In the second year of trading in the Greencore group, the Williams Group might add about £1 million to profits, said one analyst.