Premier Foods has confirmed it has received an offer for its Le Pain Croustillant and Sofrapain businesses from French company Nutrixo, parent of Moul-Bie and Délifrance UK. Nutrixo is partly owned by farming co-operatives and partly by its own employees.

The offer is "for a cash consideration of approximately £8m on a cash-free and debt-free basis", and has been accepted in prin-ciple. Premier has "started con- sultations with employees and their representatives," regarding the proposed deal.

The success of Hovis’ relaunch has driven sales and market share and Premier expects sales in 2008 to be approximately 13% up on 2007. It also expects a 9% rise in group sales for the year to 31 December 2008, compared to the same 2007 period.