NORTHERN Foods has agreed to sell its Irish baked bean and tinned food operation to a consortium including the Bank of Scotland for £66.8m.
The group, based in Hull, said it was selling Northern Foods (Ireland) and its subsidiaries to Maiden Acquisition, a new company formed by Irish tea producer Barry's Tea and Bank of Scotland Ireland.
The Irish arm of Northern Foods owns food and drink firm Batchelors and food importing group Beck Smith.
Northern bought Batchelors in Ireland, which was formerly part of UK soup maker Batchelors - now owned by Unilever - in 1986 from previous owners Beecham for £13m.
It took over Beck Smith in 1991 for £1.5m.
Although not making soup, Batchelors is Ireland's number one baked bean brand and also produces tinned vegetables.
Northern is offloading non-core businesses to focus on its core brands in the UK market such as Goodfella's Pizzas and Dalepak frozen foods.
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