The proposed merger between Express Dairies and Arla UK could lead to numerous jobs losses.


Although not able to give a precise figure, Express Dairies CEO Neil Davidson said the merger could result in job cuts of “a number of hundreds”, reported BBC News Online.


The merged company is likely to review its administrative operations as well as its manufacturing operations.


The planned merger is awaiting approval by the Office of Fair Trading after parts of the deal were referred there by the European Commission.


Last week Express Dairies posted a 23.5% rise in full-year pretax profit before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation.