Subject to approval by the Competition Authority, Irish Examiner reports that the McCarren family is to remain as minority shareholder, thus continuing a five-generation association.

The management said the future for the business has been put on a more secure footing, supporting the staff of about 180 people and the livelihoods of all the pig suppliers to McCarren.

Kepak Group managing director, John Horgan, said: “We look forward, subject to Competition Authority approval, to working with the staff and suppliers at McCarren and to integrating the business into the Kepak chilled meat business.”

Irish Examiner adds that the investment will complement Kepak’s existing chilled meats strategy, which is focused on developing sales within the domestic and EU retail and food-service markets.