Thorntons has officially requested to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange, in anticipation of its pending takeover by Ferrero International.

The delisting will take effect on 20 August, while the offer deadline has been extended to 30 July 2015.

Ferrero extended the deadline for Thorntons’ remaining shareholders to accept its offer for a second time last week, as the Italian chocolate maker bids to take full control of the UK firm.

In a trading statement, Thorntons said: “Such cancellation of listing and admission to trading is expected to significantly reduce the liquidity and marketability of any Thorntons shares not accepted into the offer.”

The deal to buy the chocolate store was struck last month, when Ferrero agreed to pay 145p for each Thorntons share.