Greencore’s purchase of chilled prepared food group Uniq looks likely to go ahead at the end of September.

It means Uniq Marks & Spencer’s largest sandwich supplier will be taken over by Irish rival Greencore, the world’s largest sandwich manufacturer, after the Uniq board unanimously recommended it should accept the offer. This has been declared ’unconditional as to acceptances’ after more than 90% of shareholders indicated they would accept the deal.

The boards of both firms agreed to Greencore’s cash offer in mid-July when the Greencore board said it represented an excellent fit for its growth strategy in the UK. The Irish firm said that, subject to the satisfaction of the other conditions, it expected to complete the acquisition around the end of September.

Uniq, which employs 1,900 people, was recently restructured to negate the effects of its significant pension deficit.