Danone confirms Jacob's is for sale

French food and drinks giant Danone today confirmed controversial plans to sell Jacob’s.

Danone, which produces Evian and Volvic mineral water and Actimel yoghurt, said it was in advanced talks with an unnamed party “that may or may not lead to an agreement” to sell its Irish and UK biscuit business.

The Irish and UK operation employs about 1,700 people and includes Irish Biscuits in Dublin.

A Paris-based spokeswoman for Danone said: “We are in advanced negotiations, but we have nothing more to say at the moment.”

Unions have expressed concern about the deal.

SIPTU said it was opposing the sale and added that it would do whatever it could to protect the jobs of the Dublin operation’s 400 workers.

Danone said today that interim net profits climbed 8.2% to €436m on an 8.8% increase in like-for-like sales, thanks to strong sales of water and dairy products.

It said its net profit included a €100m impairment charge “related to the planned disposal of its biscuits activities in the UK and Ireland”.