Shareholders in Kerry Group plc yesterday unanimously approved Kerry's takeover of Golden Vale plc. The takeover values Golden Vale at €245 million (£193 million).

Kerry now awaits the approval of the regulatory authorities in Ireland and Britain, the Mergers and Monopolies Commission and the Office of Fair Trading, which is standard practice. This should come within the next six weeks, after which the offer will be unconditional. There then will be a mandatory Section 204 notice period, when notice will be issued to shareholders who have not accepted the offer. After this time, the Stock Exchange will be notified and then Golden Vale shares will be delisted.

Kerry expects to assume operational responsibility for Golden Vale's operations in the Republic and elsewhere in mid to late September.

Around 250 shareholders in the plc attended yesterday's meeting at which Kerry chief executive, Mr Denis Brosnan, made a broad presentation of the takeover bid and the benefits of combining the two businesses from the shareholders' perspective. It was, a spokesman said, a "very upbeat meeting". Mr Brosnan told them it was very much in keeping with Kerry's mission statement since it became a plc in 1986. Kerry would continue to grow its branded and customer-branded food products business here and in Europe.

The Kerry spokesman insisted that this was not a major acquisition as far as Kerry was concerned, representing just 10 per cent of its capitalisation. "We said we would spend €500-€600 million on bolt-on acquisitions.

"The number we have done, plus Golden Vale, will mean we have surpassed that target. In terms of relative scale, the acquisition of Golden Vale would now be regarded as a mid-sized acquisition for Kerry," he said.

Kerry intends to be in a position to add significantly more value to Golden Vale's raw dairy material. Kerry stresses that its offer was for the entire business of Golden Vale and its intention is to operate the whole business.

"There will be areas of overlap and areas where processing will need to be streamlined between existing and acquired businesses over time.

"We don't see any major rationalisation other than what would have happened in Golden Vale," the spokesman added.