Clearway Capital

May 5, 2022

An activist investor pushing for Glanbia to be split says his plan will effectively double the value of the group to more than €6bn. Yesterday's public letter setting out the potential prize is a good way to get that message to farmer-shareholders who can swing the PLC his way. But Gianluca Ferrari, the founder and chief executive of Frankfurt-based Clearway Capital, may have to do more to get those local voters sufficiently riled up to row in behind his battleplan. Last month, Glanbia completed the €307m sale of its stake in Glanbia Ireland – which owns brands such as Avonmore and Kilmeaden – to Glanbia Co-Op. That will see the Co-Op’s stake in the stock market-listed group fall from 31.5pc as it distributes 12 million shares – currently valued at about €133m – to its members. Clearway Capital will have to persuade the Co-Op and the farmers that they will see the value of their investment eventually jump if they back Mr Ferrari. But will that prospect be sufficient to overcome any inertia amongst farmers? Clearway will likely have months of work ahead to convince them. Even if it does, it would still have to push the Glanbia board to adopt its strategy. Yesterday, Clearway made public a letter sent to Glanbia chairman Donard Gaynor last month. In that letter, Clearway has urged the group, whose chief executive is Siobhán Talbot, to sell its European joint venture cheese operations and spin off its performance nutrition business and list it on the stock markets in the United States and Ireland. Clearway insists the moves would unlock significant value in the group and would effectively double the total valuation to more than €6bn. Mr Ferrari said in the letter that the Irish group’s Glanbia Performance Nutrition unit has “lost touch with its consumer base”. Business Newsletter