Greencore shareholders have given their approval for a $745.5 million (€694.8 million) deal that will add $1bn in revenues to the group in the US. 

The long-touted acquisition of the Chicago-based Peacock Foods Group – which processes and packages fresh, chilled and frozen food and meals for a range of large US-branded food producers – will help the Irish company quadruple its sales in the US, making the market responsible for 45% of all group sales.

The other 55% is generated through sandwich-making and convenience food processing in the UK and the company is quoted on the London Stock Exchange, rather than in Dublin. 

Its roots stem from the privatisation of Irish Sugar in 1991, however, and, as chief executive (and brother of Simon) Patrick Coveney told Breakfast Business this morning that there were many reasons why it still made sense for Greencore's headquarters to remain on Irish soil.

He said:

"Dublin is actually a really well-connected location to run an international food company from. So I can fly to 15 or 16 different regional airports in the UK [and] get very quickly to Boston, Chicago and New York for our US business. 

"We also have a wide set of the advisory set – the people who lend us money, some of our shareholders – who are located here. Our UK customers [and] our US customers very much value the Irish food heritage."