Dairy Crest has cleared the final hurdle in the disposal of its French spreads business, with the sale now on course to be completed by the end of the month.

The company has today received approval from its shareholders to sell the St Hubert business to Brassica Acquisition, a company backed by Montagu Private Equity, for £344m.

Dairy Crest also announced today that the deal had been cleared by the French competition authorities on 2 August, meaning all requirements for the disposal have now been satisfied.

As a result, the sale is now set to be completed by 28 August – a month earlier than Dairy Crest had predicted when it announced it had signed a sale and purchase agreement and completed an important consultation with the French Works Council at the end of July. 

Dairy Crest put St Hubert on the market in March and announced it had received a bid from Brassica at the end of June.

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