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Dunbia acquisition creates 92 local jobs
4th August 2009
Dunbia has increased its workforce by 92 since acquiring the Ballymena-based Stevenson & Co pork processing business in January of this year. The acquisition was made possible through part-funding by Bank of Ireland, a long-standing business banking partner of Dunbia.
Dunbia has increased its workforce by 92 since acquiring the Ballymena-based Stevenson & Co pork processing business in January of this year. The acquisition was made possible through part-funding by Bank of Ireland, a long-standing business banking partner of Dunbia.
Bank of Ireland was selected due to its in-depth understanding of the trends in the food processing and agriculture related industries, and its appreciation of Dunbia’s business.
Dunbia’s acquisition of the Stevenson plant – now operating as Dunbia Ballymena – helped to save it from closure after it was announced in October 2008 that rising costs were forcing its closure. The deal enabled Dunbia to start to build its pork distribution business, saved nearly 100 jobs and has since added a headcount of 48 at Dunbia Ballymena. The growth in Dunbia’s pork business has also created 44 jobs at its existing Dungannon facility.
Paul Magee, Relationship Manager, Corporate and Property, Bank of Ireland, said: “We have a long relationship with Dunbia and are delighted to see the positive results of this deal, which has created a significant number of local jobs during difficult economic times. We are committed to working closely with our customers to come up with solutions that will help to support their growth.”
Jim Dobson, Managing Director, Dunbia Group, said: “We originally projected our acquisition of Stevenson’s & Co to create up to 70 jobs. By leveraging our scale and distribution networks, however, we have been able to grow our pork distribution business well beyond those expectations and it continues to grow. Bank of Ireland’s knowledge of our industry and understanding of the benefits we could offer the marketplace through this acquisition was critical to facilitating this growth.”
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© Bank of Ireland 2012
