High Court petition to wind up Asba Meats

A petition has been made to the High Court to wind up the Clare-based halal meat processor Asba Meats.

The petition was lodged with the High Court on 14 July, by Dr Kashif Siddiqui of 3 Carpenterstown Manor, Carpenterstown Road, Dublin.

Dr Siddiqui was described in the notice as “a creditor of the company”.

The petition is due to be heard by the High Court next Tuesday 2 September.

The notice advises that “any creditor or contributory of the company [Asba Meats] or liquidator in the main proceedings who wishes to support or oppose the making of an order on the petition” to “appear at the time of the hearing by himself or his counsel”.

When contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal, a senior staff member at Asba Meats, Tarequr Rahman Khan, said he had “no comment” to make on the petition.

Facilities

Asba Meats is a halal meat processor with facilities at Shannon and at Drumquin, outside Ennis.

Over the last 18 months Asba Meats has been involved in a number of legal proceedings.

In November 2024, the Agri-Food Regulator secured its first conviction for a breach of the unfair trading practices regulations, following a court case against Asba Meats.

The court ruled against the meat processor following the non-payment for cattle delivered to the slaughter plant by a west of Ireland farmer.

Asba Meats was also involved in a long-running legal wrangle with Town and Country Meats Group over the alleged non-payment of a debt of €16,931.

Over the past 18 months, the Irish Farmers Journal has received a number of complaints from farmers who had issues with delayed payments for cattle killed by Asba Meats.

It is unclear what is currently owed, if anything, by Asba Meats to farmers.

However, it is feared that the firm’s debts to some farmer-owned businesses could be substantial.