Downpatrick-based Finnebrogue has been acquired by global food processing giant, Sofina Foods.

Owned by Canadian businessman Michael Latifi, the European operations of Sofina Foods also include Young’s Seafood and Karro, which operates a large pig processing business in Cookstown, Co Tyrone. Latifi bought Young’s and Karro in 2021 from private equity firm CapVest.

With Finnebrogue joining the Sofina Foods group of companies, it now leaves Latifi with a business empire in Europe that employs over 9,000 people across 27 sites. Globally, Sofina Foods has over 13,000 employees.

Finnebrogue was established by the late Denis Lynn and his wife Christine in 1991, and they grew the company to a business employing over 1,000 people across four sites in the Downpatrick area. The couple started out rearing deer on their 600-acre Finnebrogue Estate before building a deer slaughter facility on the farm in the early 2000s.

The Lynns moved into the supply of sausages and burgers and in 2016 opened a new facility in Down Business Park, becoming a major customer for fresh pork from Karro.

While processed meat remains the core of the business, the Lynns set up a bacon company on their Finnebrogue Estate in 2019-2020 which specialises in producing nitrate-free bacon and ham.

In 2020, they invested over £30m to set up a new factory in Downpatrick to produce plant-based vegetarian and vegan products.

Ventures

The accounts for the various Finnebrogue companies suggest those two ventures have been a drag on the overall business.

With Denis Lynn passing due to a quad bike accident in 2021, the main shareholder in the business has been his wife, Christine. Her main interests are listed as Lynn Country Foods Ltd, which specialises in processed meat products, as well as Finnebrogue Vegetarian Company Ltd and The Finnebrogue Bacon Company Ltd. The ultimate parent of all these companies is LCF Holdings Ltd, registered in the Isle of Man.

The accounts for Lynn Country Foods Ltd show that it is profitable and with a strong asset base. In the 12 months to 24 February 2024, the company made £8.67m of operating profit on a turnover of £159.28m, leaving profit margin at a very healthy 5.4%. Net assets stood at £80.79m.

However, Finnebrogue Bacon Company has posted an operating loss every year since it began trading in the 12 months to February 2020. In the last accounts to February 2024, it recorded an operating loss of £3.57m on a turnover of £17.4m.

The business started out with a £40m inter-company loan from Lynn Country Foods. The latest accounts show it had net liabilities of £39.5m.

Vegan losses

The performance of the plant-based company set up by Finnebrogue in 2020 probably matches that of other startup businesses in this space.

In the last financial year it lost £4.4m on turnover of £24m, which followed on from an operating loss of £14.4m on a turnover of £25.4m in the previous year. Over that same period, the net liabilities of this company increased from £15.25m to £20.59m. Most of that relates to undertakings to parent company, LCF Holdings Ltd after £29.1m was invested by this company in the new vegetarian factory.