City law firm Wragge & Co has advised a £182 million sale of a canned grocery operation.

The Colmore Row firm advised Premier Foods on the sale of the major operation, which employs 1,600 people, to Princes.

The deal includes the sale of a number of famous brands such as Crosse & Blackwell, Fray Bentos, Farrows and Smedleys.

Corporate partner Richard Haywood led the transaction working with director Gareth Baker, associate Mohammed Majid and solicitor Sophie O’Connor.

Mr Haywood said: “Wragge & Co has acted for Premier on a range of matters in the last year. It is a great client to work with and an impressive organisation. In supporting Premier in this latest deal we drew on our extensive food sector experience and M&A expertise.”

The sale is conditional upon receiving consent from Premier Foods’ lending banks, its shareholders and also merger control clearance from the European Commission.

Premier Foods is the UK’s largest food producer. The owner of major brands such as Hovis bread, Mr Kipling cakes, Sharwood’s Asian foods and Branston Pickle turned over £2.6 billion last year.

Food and drink group Princes is owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) - Japan’s largest general trading company with 200 sites in 80 countries.

Wragge & Co was appointed to Premier’s full-service legal panel last year.