Valeo Foods was sold during the week to BAIN Capital Private Equity by owner CapVest for an undisclosed sum, subsequently reported to be over €1.7bn.

Valeo owns brands well known to Irish farmers such as Odlums, Jacobs, and Kettle (crisps).

The company was up for auction since January, with three bidders in play.

Since CapVest developed the business in 2010, Valeo has grown from a purely Irish business with sales of €200m to a business with more than €1.1bn in sales that operates in 106 markets.

The company employs more than 4,000 people across the UK, Italy, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany.

CapVest was founded by Cavan man Seamus Fitzpatrick and this sale means CapVest will have exited all its Irish businesses once this deal is closed.

CEO Seamus Kearney will continue to lead the business.

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