Over 11,000 Tirlán co-op members are set to benefit from a spin-out of €173 million worth of Glanbia plc shares, the co-op has said.

The board of Tirlán Co-operative Society Limited has approved the distribution of 15 million Glanbia plc shares to co-op members.

Based on a Glanbia plc closing share price of €11.51 as of last Friday (May 9), this will be worth approximately €5,156 for every 1,000 shares that a member holds in Tirlán co-op, or over €16,804 to an average active Tirlán co-op member.

The co-op said the spin-out was "overwhelmingly approved" by members of Tirlán at a special general meeting held on October 4, 2024.

Following the completion of the spin-out, Tirlán co-op will remain the largest individual shareholder in Glanbia plc, with 23.7% of the issued share capital.

Tirlán chairperson John Murphy said that the co-op board was "pleased to be in a position to return value to members".

“It is important that we return value to our 11,000 farm family members, many of whom have invested in their farm businesses and have built our organisation into the world-class business that it is today," Murphy said.

This latest distribution of value brings the total number of shares spun-out to over 63.5 million, with a current value of over €731 million (based on Friday's closing share price for Glanbia plc).

A detailed information pack, including details of individual plc share allocations, is set to be issued to co-op members shortly.

Tirlán provided the following examples of the value of the spin-out to Tirlán co-op members:

The result of October's special general meeting was in excess of 80% of members voting in favour of the proposed spin-out.

The resolution was to remove a rule which set out that the Tirlán board cannot reduce the co-op’s shareholding in Glanbia plc below 17%.

Tirlán said at the time that the rule change would allow the board of the co-op greater flexibility in managing its investment in Glanbia plc.