Donegal Investment Group, formerly Donegal Creameries, has announced it will release between €45m and €50m back to shareholders by way of a share buy-back tender offer, later this year. Donegal estimates it will buy back shares for a premium price in the region of €8.30/share.

Donegal has just over 9.5m shares in issue, many of which are held by farmer shareholders from the days when the company traded as Donegal Creameries.

The Letterkenny-headquartered company has found itself in a significant net cash position in the last year, following the sale of a number of non-core assets, including An Grianan Estate, which sold for €17.4m.

However, the biggest windfall for the company has been the €45m settlement it reached for the sale of its 30% stake in Monaghan Mushrooms. Donegal confirmed this week it had received an initial payment of €41.5m from Danbywiske, the holding company of Ronnie Wilson and the majority shareholder in Monaghan Mushrooms. A further €4m will be paid by February 2020 to bring the total settlement to €45.5m.

Donegal also announced that it is exploring options to sell its Nomadic dairy business, following “unprompted expressions of interest” from potential buyers.

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