Dutch food company Vion has agreed for a management-buyout of its UK pork business, securing nearly 4000 jobs.
The deal is being led by Seamus Carr, managing director of Vion's pork business unit, and is supported by UK private equity firm Endless.
Vion's UK pork business has processing plants in Wiveliscombe, Malton, Haverhill, Scunthorpe, Hull, Stoke and Enfield in England, and at Cookstown in Northern Ireland, and a pig farming and feed mill operation in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It also operates the McGees butchers business in the Republic of Ireland.
The acquisition is subject to Competition Authority's approval in Ireland, and Seamus Carr will be the managing director of the new company.
This move comes after Vion announced in November that it has initiated the process to sell its UK food business, Vion UK, which employs 13,000 people at 38 sites across the country, in order to focus on food operations in the Netherlands and Germany, and develop its global ingredients business.
Currently, the company is in discussions with several prospective buyers for Vion UK's poultry and red meat divisions, which employ a total of 8000 staff.
Seamus Carr said that the deal secures the future of the staff, suppliers and gives the customers a seamless transition.
Vion, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has two core activities - food and ingredients, and it has a turnover of €9.5bn with a total workforce of 26,500.