Eversheds and Linklaters have advised on the £344m sale of Dairy Crest's French arm to Montagu Private Equity.

Eversheds took the lead role for the UK dairy products company on its sale of the St Hubert spreads business, fielding a team led by corporate partner Aleen Gulvanessian alongside Paris corporate partner Antoine Martin.

Meanwhile, Linklaters advised Montagu with Paris corporate partner Vincent Ponsonnaille heading the magic circle firm's team.

The deal comes after Dairy Crest kicked off a strategic review of its French business earlier this year in a bid to maximise shareholder value.

Gulvanessian said: "It is currently a difficult market for corporates to raise new funds for acquisitions, whether by way of debt or equity.

"As a consequence, private equity houses with funds are in a good position to make strategic investments in the market."

Dairy Crest, whose brands include Utterly Butterly, Clover, Vitalite, Country Life and Cathedral City, purchased St Hubert in 2007 from British food company Uniq for £250m.

Uniq was subsequently taken over by Greencore in a 2011 deal which saw Eversheds take the lead role for the Irish food company opposite Slaughter and May for Uniq, with Stephenson Harwood and Clifford Chance also taking related roles.