Kerry Share holdings

I own 105 legacy Kerry Co Op shares and 10 Kerry Co Op Creameries shares that I don’t want to sell at the moment.

I also have an existing Davy account with approx €15k in equities.

I note that Kerry are looking to get rid of share certificates altogether.

For convenience is it possible to transfer the 115 Kerry / Kerry Creameries in to my Davy account ?
Thanks in advance.

@marsaday

Have you been apprised of the pre-Christmas deal between the Kerry Group plc and the Kerry Co-Op suppliers ?

If not read here


and then please seek professional advice before contacting anyone like Davy.

Most accountants outside Co Kerry will not be au fait with the situation regarding Kerry Co-Op share conversions so it might be an idea to contact a reputable accountant with farming clients in Tralee, Listowel or Killarney.

Please do not rush any decision on this matter and also discuss all implications with your spouse and a close friend near you.

Ahm , thanks Trajan. Would you suggest I go about it a different way? Just register the shares maybe with Computershare , ?
Seems a bit wierd to be ringing up an accountant in Kerry I’ve never heard of for advice . ( no offence to the fine citizens of Kerry).
What “ implications “ do you refer to , Trajan. ?
Certainly I will take your advice , not contact Davy and not rush in to a decision and definately look for professional advice but could you give me maybe a clue ?
What makes these shares different to ordinary shares/ equities one would hold . Are they potentially a poor investment or …. ?

Holding shares in a company does require some work on the part of the shareholder -
1. You should know a bit about the company and its business
2. You need to follow information about share divisions, buy-backs, take overs, etc
3. You need to know about the governance of the company and who is actually running it

If you haven't the time or the appetite for this, then you would be better off investing in a fund or ETF

I think the OP already owns the shares. I'm in that situation myself with this and I just transferred the shares to Computershare while I have a long think about it.

@marsaday

You are in a state of financial innocence as I was 30 years ago when I had such shares.

Firstly, shares in a private company are not readily tradeable. They certainly are not what Davy and other brokers normally deal in. You have to find an interested buyer (likely an existing shareholder) and then have the deal approved by the board of that private company.

The Old Kerry Co-Op shares were private company shares. They only had a nominal value, e.g. £1.

Each of these were originally valued during the 1986 launch of Kerry Group plc at around 10 times a Kerry Group share, then nominally 10p.

Today with the plc shares worth much more, the Co-Op shares would also rationally be worth much more.

The pre-Christmas deal between the Kerry Group plc and its major shareholder, Kerry Co-Op, has converted these old Co-Op shares into a mix of Kerry Group plc shares plus shares in a new entity Kerry Dairy Ireland. I think it's going to work out that 85% of the value of your old Kerry Co-Op shares would be converted into Kerry Group plc shares and 15% would be as shares in the new Kerry dairy entity. I am not sure if you can sell your shareholding in the Kerry Dairy entity if you plead non-involvement in dairy farming, e.g. if your Kerry Co-Op shares were inherited. If you do it may have to be to another Kerry dairy shareholder.

That's the basic position. To go any further you need to consult with someone well-versed in company practice, shares transfer, the Kerry Co-Op shareout referred to above and the tax and other implications of your situation. That is why I recommend a Co Kerry accountant because there are thousands of people like you in Co Kerry and the local accountants will be fully up to speed with both the situation, your options, tax aspects and so on.

Now, all I can say beyond this is to try to get an accountant who is trustworthy to you and let him/her elucidate on the position you hold. I could understand it if you felt the need to get more than one accountant's opinion on all this before you decide. It's a big decision so take your time.

Hoping it all works out.

@marsaday

What I'm trying to tell you is that the Kerry Co-Op shares you hold have already been converted into Kerry Group plc shares and possibly also shares in the new private company Kerry Dairy Ireland.

This means that you should soon be getting a letter with new share certificates from the Kerry Co-Op Secretary. They might even enclose some general advice on the new situation. You know something, if I was you I'd call the Kerry Co-Op office and ask to be put through to their Secretary's staff so you can be advised from "the horse's mouth".

As you would most likely be a category C Kerry Co-Op shareholder, i.e. a person who has and never will be a milk supplier, they might have a process for you to divest yourself of the any Kerry Dairy Ireland shares.

As regards selling old Co-Op shares, in my time, 1990s, I put a small ad in The Kerryman newspaper (e.g. "Kerry Co-Op shares for sale. Active milk supplier buyers only.") and quoted a Box No. rather than my name. The replies were posted on to me as I lived abroad then. In my case I specifically sought farmers only as some solicitors were buying on the pretence of farmer clients (might be a possibility of trust holdings - maybe would-be trusts too!) and I wasn't going to enrich them. You may feel differently.

But - if you do get any Kerry Dairy Ireland shares - your Kerry Group plc shares might keep you liquid enough till some sort of company plan emerges for Kerry Dairy Ireland and a rational share price rises from that. In the meantime, I'd say hold them.

105 legacy Kerry Co Op shares and 10 Kerry Co Op Creameries doesn't make sense.

Please check what is written on the share certificates you hold now. Does it say Kerry Co-Operative Creameries with a nominal £1 value ? Are they both the same ? Or do you also have some Kerry group plc shares ?

Thanks so much Trajan.
The exact holding is 105 Kerry Group plc shares and 9 share (class C)fully paid ordinary shares ( of €0.125 each) ( exactly as narrated in documentation from them.
They sent me a share certificate for the 9 C ordinary shares and just a "statement of holding" for the 105 other shares.

@marsaday

Having class C shares suggests that the shares are old Kerry Co-Op shares. But since these were £1 (€1.25) nominal value and what you have is valued at €0.125 it's a bit confusing to me.

At any rate all you have to worry about are the class C shares. The Kerry Group shares are public company shares and you can hold or cash in these at your own discretion. Bank of Ireland and AIB branches have the ability to quote buy prices to you after a phone call to their brokers and the forms can be processed there and then. There is a minimum broker's fee (ask what it is first) and the stamp duty of ~ 1% of the consideration.

For the meaning of the 9 class C shares, I suggest you call the Kerry Co-Op HQ on 066 71 28 572 and ask for the Company Secretary's Bureau.
He/she (or one of their staff more likely) can fill you in on these shares and what they are, how to sell them, etc.

I'd like to think that the class C shares are old Kerry Co-Op shares because then these will be converted into around 80 Kerry group plc shares and a few shares in the new Kerry Dairy entity. But the nominal value of €0.125 (as opposed to £1 or €1.25) is wrong for Kerry Co-Op shares.

But do not sell any shares till you look at the tax implications with some accountant.

Most Kerry coop shareholders received their share certificates for both Kerry coop and Kerry plc last Fri 31/01/2025 as a result of the Kerry coop/Kerry plc agreement.the value of the Kerry coop share now is probably only in the low cent value per share.... Kerry coop share nominal value is 0.125 per coop share today as they were divided by 10 as part of agreement process.

Just got told by a current large Co-Op shareholder:

The old £1 Kerry Co-Op shares were converted into a mix of 12.5c Kerry Group plc shares + new 12.5c Kerry Co-Op shares. The Kerry Dairy entity is initially going to be owned jointly by Kerry Co-Op and the Kerry Group plc together until the last part of the Kerry Group's interest is bought out by the Co-Op some years time.

So marsaday can sell his Kerry Group plc shares via a bank or his own broker as soon as he has assessed the tax implications for his own situation.

The new Kerry Co-Op shares can in principle be sold to another shareholder in the Co-Op but the value would not be much above nominal in he present market. So I think he is best advised to hold onto them till the new Kerry Dairy Ireland business begins to take shape. If the latter grows and becomes a plc, there will be another share-out.

Given that all marsaday has to consider for sale now is the Kerry Group plc shares, he need not seek an accountant in Co Kerry. Any accountant in Ireland will be able to tell him the best way to play it tax-wise.

Rang Kerry as you advised , Trajan.
Kerry Group plc shares were valued yesterday at €99.35 each. No need to transfer them to any broker according to Kerry Co op. The other Class C shares have no value at the moment according to the customer representative at 066 7128571.Sounds like they're holding their cards close to their chests until they see want happens down the line. Thanks all for your help who replied

@marsaday

Good to know.

I do not understand why an ordinary small investor would use a company like Computershare.

Your investments are your business alone. Having such detailed info on people's finances would be more responsibility than most tech companies would be able to handle properly: you'd find a lot of investment offers coming to your post box and email address - even cold calls on the phone.

trajan said:

I do not understand why an ordinary small investor would use a company like Computershare.

Your investments are your business alone. Having such detailed info on people's finances would be more responsibility than most tech companies would be able to handle properly: you'd find a lot of investment offers coming to your post box and email address - even cold calls on the phone.

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I've held shares in different companies with different registrars such as Computershare and Equinity Shareview and have never once received cold calls or spam from them. Only communications about my shareholdings.