Greencore is to dispose of its chilled desserts facility in Minsterley, Shropshire, to the Müller Dairy UK group.

The Irish producer of convenience food released an official statement this morning explaining how the ownership of its manufacturing facility will be transferred to the Market Drayton-based Müller, and the co-packaging arrangement for Cadbury chilled desserts will terminate.

The deal is expected to be worth £4.3m, excluding existing stock, and is due to be complete at the start of January 2013. The firm said the transfer of production of other premium desserts lines and related manufacturing equipment to Evercreech will have been completed by this time.

Greencore acquired its chilled desserts business from rival Irish convenience food group Uniq, which is Marks & Spencer’s largest sandwich supplier, back in September 2011. 

The company had reported last month a 49.9% growth in revenue to £567.7m in its first half-year results for 2012, which it attributed to the acquisition from Uniq.

Patrick Coveney, chief executive officer of Greencore, said: “Our business has performed strongly in the first half of 2012. The acquisition of Uniq last year has reshaped our group and we are on track to deliver all of the targeted integration benefits.”