Shares in food producer Greencore Group (GNC) fell by nearly 8 per cent after its biggest US customer, Tyson Foods, announced it was buying Advance Pierre for $3.2bn (£2.5bn) - a business operating in Greencore's fast growing "food-to-go" niche. But we feel that the market's knee-jerk reaction to the news ignores the fact that this deal probably represents more of an opportunity than a threat for Greencore.
Tyson specialises in branded products and marketing, not manufacturing, and so the deal could see some of Advance Pierre's production outsourced to Greencore's recently acquired US division, Peacock. This is made all the more likely because Peacock and Tyson already have a long-term co-investment model in place, which aligns their interests.