Farmers have no appetite for the Dawn Meats deal
THE deal for Dawn Meats, owned by brothers John and Peter Queally, to buy Dunbia, owned by brothers Jim and Jack Dobson, seemed like a great solution for everyone. The Dobsons were trying to sell their business, which has wafer-thin margins and a considerable debt on its balance sheet. For the Queallys and their co-founder Dan Browne, Dunbia’s access to the UK markets gives Dawn a welcome Brexit buffer.
However, the farming community didn’t savour the idea of more consolidation.
In recently published objections to the competition watchdog, the IFA claimed: “There is a strong body of evidence which points to weak competition for farmers selling cattle and sheep to meat factories in Ireland and further transactions in line with the Dawn Meats/Dunbia proposed merger are likely to weaken competition even further.”
The ICMSA went even further, arguing: “The meat industry in Ireland over time is becoming more concentrated within a small number of groups and there are real concerns amongst beef and sheep producers that further concentration at processor level will considerably undermine competition for both cattle and sheep, thus reducing the price paid to the farmer.”
However, despite their efforts to rustle up some resistance to the plan, it was approved by the CCPC last month.