Wragge & Co has won a first-time corporate instruction from Premier Foods, advising the UK’s largest food producer on the £182m sale of its tinned grocery business to rival Princes.

The sale sees Princes, which is owned by Japanese trading company Mitsubishi Corporation, take over Premier’s 1,600-staff Canned Grocery Operations arm, which includes brands such as Crosse & Blackwell, Fray Bentos, Farrows and Smedley’s.