The offer from Financiere Martine, the vehicle of private equity groups Banexi Capital and Cerea Capital, saw Premier shares rising 7.7 per cent on Monday at 09.36GMT.

Premier Foods said that it had received "a satisfactory consultation opinion" from employee representatives on the proposed disposal of Sofrapain, announced earlier this year along with the proposed disposal of Le Pain Croustillant (LPC).

“The proposed disposals of LPC, Sofrapain and Martine... will assist in reducing group debt with anticipated total proceeds of approximately £50m,” said Robert Schofield, chief executive of Premier.

At the end of 2008, Premier had debt of €1.96 billion (£1.78bn).