Kerry Group has announced it's to sell its consumer foods, meats and meals business in the UK and Ireland for €819m.
The buyer is the American company Pilgrim's Pride, which is described as a global provider of high-quality food products.
The meats business which has been sold, includeds such well-known brands as Denny, Galtee and Richmond.
This wing of Kerry Group primarily serves the UK market, providing products for a range of chilled and frozen ready meals, as well as ready-to-cook meals to retailers including Sainsburys and Tesco.
Last year, the divisions made a profit before tax of €63m.
The sale is part of Kerry’s stated strategy to aggressively focus activities on its taste and nutrition divisions.
Kerry Group said it would use the proceeds of the sale for general corporate purposes and for the continued strategic development of its taste and nutrition business.
The company also said it would now "separate and realign" the remaining dairy activities in the consumer foods division.
Kerry Group had been in talks with Kerry Co-Op with a view to forming a joint venture with it involving the dairy business, as part of a strategic review it was carrying out of the division.
However, in April Kerry Group said the negotiations had been suspended.
