There have been several reports from New Zealand in recent days linking Dawn Meats with a nz$200m (€103m) equity investment in Alliance Group, a meat processing co-op in the country.

Alliance, a farmer-owned co-op, has struggled in recent years as livestock numbers in the country have fallen leaving the disjointed New Zealand meat industry with significant excess capacity. Alliance reported an after-tax loss of nz$95.8m (€49.3m) for the year ended September 2024, following from a loss of nz$70 (€36m) the previous year.

The co-op informed members in December 2024 that it was exploring funding options and that it had engaged an investment company to help it raise external capital. This would mean the co-op would no longer be fully farmer owned.

New Zealand publication Farmers Weekly reported this week that Alliance chair Mark Wynne said that members would be updated later this month on developments. That report listed Dawn Meats as one of three possible investors. New Zealand’s National Business Review reported that the confidentially agreements were already in place for the deal, with “speculation of significant investment from Irish company Dawn Meats”.

When asked by the Irish Farmers Journal about the potential deal, a spokesperson for Dawn Meats said: “Dawn Meats has a policy of not commenting on market speculation.”