Kerry Group has agreed to sell its Meats and Meals business in the UK and Ireland, which manufacturers Richmond sausages and Fridge Raiders, to American corporate Pilgrim’s Pride for €819m.

The Meat and Meals side of Kerry Group’s business manufactures meat snacks, food-to-go and meat-free products.

In its last financial year, the business made a profit before tax of €63m and had gross assets of €521m.

The proceeds of the sale will be used for “general corporate purposes” and spent on developing Kerry’s Taste & Nutrition business. The sale is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2021.

Kerry Group also revealed today it had completed a review of its dairy business and had made the decision not to sell.

Edmond Scanlon, CEO of Kerry Group, said: “Kerry’s strategy for the past 30 years has been to continuously evolve our portfolio, as we progressed on our journey to becoming a market-leading Taste & Nutrition company.

“This transaction further enhances Kerry’s focus as a leading business to business ingredient solutions provider for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.”

Pilgrim’s Pride CEO Fabio Sandri added: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to position Pilgrim’s as a leading prepared foods and branded products player through this acquisition.

“We look forward to welcoming Kerry Consumer Foods’ Meats and Meals business’ talented management team and other team members, led by Nick Robinson, to the Pilgrim’s family, and we look forward to working together to drive growth and deliver value for all of our stakeholders.”