Ireland. The company took a charge of €9m to its profit in 2008 when it was alleged that the former financial controller of the Mineral Water business had concealed costs. In October 2009 Nordzucker announced that it had bought Greencore's 50% stake in its joint venture SugarPartners. As part of the deal, Nordzucker acquired the Siucra, McKinney and Castle brands from the company. On 10 November 2010, the European Court of Auditors found that the closure of the last Greencore sugar plant in Mallow in 2006 may not have been necessary. The company was due to merge with Northern Foods in 2011 to form Essenta Foods, to be headquartered in Dublin but listed on the London Stock Exchange. The deal, however, fell through after businessman Ranjit Singh Boparan outbid Greencore to win the approval of Northern Foods shareholders, on 21 January 2011. On 12 July 2011, Greencore announced it intended to buy Uniq plc. The deal closed in November 2011, with Uniq resultantly delisting from the London Stock Exchange. On 25 July 2016, the company acquired The Sandwich Factory Holdings Ltd for £15m from Cranswick plc. On 14 November 2016, Greencore announced it would acquire US-based Peacock Foods for $747.5m, significantly expanding its presence in the country. The health of Greencore's U.S. business was questioned by investors as a result of a late August 2017 fear that Starbucks had backtracked on a contract at the coffee giant's Jacksonville facility in Florida. Brokerage house Cantor Fitzgerald became the first firm to lower its investment rating of Greencore, stating that the stock's fall was caused by "some underlying event in the US." In October 2018 Greencore announced that it would sell its U.S. business to Hearthside Food Solutions for £817 million. In June 2021 Patrick Murray, a manager at Greencore in Dundee, Scotland, was found to have racially abused an English employee and the company was fined £13,000. In September 2022, Dalton Philips became CEO of Greencore. See also List of Irish companies Foo Go References External links Food companies of the Republic of Ireland Sugar companies Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Irish companies established in 1926 Food manufacturers Food and drink companies based in Dublin (city) Manufacturing companies based in Dublin (city) Food and drink companies established in 1926 Former state-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland