Roscrea, Nenagh and Birr marts to merge

A proposal to merge three co-op marts, Roscrea, Nenagh and Birr marts, will be put to farmer shareholders on November 8th next. The plan to combine these three co-ops to form a new co-op, Central Auction Services co-op, has already received unanimous approval from the committees of the three marts.

The three chairman Des Dempsey (Birr), Ray Dempsey (Roscrea) and John O Brien (Nenagh) must now convince shareholders of the benefits of this merger. The proposal needs to receive the support of 75% of shareholders of the co-ops at a single meeting or a simple majority at two shareholder meetings to be ratified.

The three marts are in close geographic proximity in the North Tipperary / South Offaly region so it makes good sense for the three businesses to be put together. Shareholders in Nenagh and Birr must first approve the merger proposal, and then Roscrea which is owned by Glanbia, will be transferred to the new co-op.

This is one of the first proposals in years for marts to merge, despite strenous efforts by ICOS, and several strategic reports for the sector recommending such moves. The development reflects the anticipated changes to the agri sector post decoupling. Combining the three businesses will allow the three centres to be operated with a consolidated staff and management team. It's expected that all three centres will stay open.

The three marts are currently managed by Jack Hannon, Matt Malone and William Rigney. No decision on who will manage the new combined business has been taken yet. It's understood that a new board of 12 will be elected to direct the new co-op.

Much of the rationalisation in the marts sector in recent years has involved either private marts closing down, or larger groups reducing the number of centres they operate. But this is the first time in over twenty years that independent co-op marts have proposed to merge. This might provide the catalyst for similar marts in other parts of the country to examine this possibility.

ICOS director of policy, Martin Varley has welcomed the proposals saying that they are in keeping with the recommendations included in the ICOS Co-op Mart Development Strategy.