Mr Eaton who was parachuted in 10 months ago to rescue the ailing group stressed the business

Mr Eaton, who was parachuted in 10 months ago to rescue the ailing group, stressed the business would be in good shape if it received a good price for the divisions.Shares in Uniq closed unchanged at 130p, giving it a market value of a little less than £150m.. The threat of a summer of strikes by 100,0000 rail workers receded yesterday after union leaders agreed to take part in a commission to investigate a £600m pensions deficit. The Rail Maritime and Transport Union, the industry’s biggest union, said it would participate in the inquiry after reporting that members had voted by more than three to one to walk out.
The train drivers’ union, Aslef, called off its strike vote last week after agreeing to the investigation, and yesterday the white-collar union Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association suspended its ballot because of the breakthrough.However, Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, said his strike mandate would remain “live” while the commission was set up. The company hopes to receive in excess of £200m for its Belgian salad and French spreads businesses – which would provide enough to pay down the £97m UK pension deficit, and wipe out its £95m of borrowing.

Uniq hopes the sales will also provide spare capital with which to grow the business.
Announcing its full-year results – including an anticipated 80 per cent fall in pre-tax profits – Geoff Eaton, the chief executive, claimed the strategy would put Uniq back on a firm footing, allowing it to focus on revitalising its poorer performing divisions. The market for antibody-based drugs is forecast to more than double by 2010 from $14bn last year.. The convenience food group, Uniq, surprised investors by unveiling plans to sell off the most cash generative and profitable part of its business yesterday, saying it would use the proceeds to pay down its sizeable pension deficit and borrowings. But NeuTec’s drugs do not actively kill infectious agents and need to be given in combination with other medicines that do.Pharma companies are particularly keen to expand in medicines made from antibodies, the body’s natural immune defences, which have fewer side-effects than chemical compounds. That means they could pocket up to £9.2m each if the deal goes through. Running the company on a shoestring, they have spent only £25m since setting it up at the University of Manchester in 1997.Mycograb is an antibody drug which acts against the fungus that causes thrush and could also slow the growth of tumours.

AstraZeneca recently took over Cambridge Antibody Technology, and Pfizer snapped up Vicuron last year. Those deals fetched hefty premiums of 67 per cent and 84 per cent respectively, which would equate to a price of between 838p and 924p for NeuTec.The company’s two founders, Professor James Burnie and Professor Ruth Matthews, each hold a 3.5 per cent stake in the business. The drug is also being tested on breast cancer and meningitis patients.
NeuTec’s other main product, Aurograb, is in final Phase III trials as a treatment for MRSA, the hospital superbug.Analysts said major drug makers such as Eli Lilly, Merck, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb could be interested in acquiring NeuTec’s portfolio to boost their drug pipelines.Brett Pollard, at Numis Securities, said NeuTec had the kind of assets that pharma companies have been keen to acquire lately. Unusually for a biotech group, NeuTec has several promising products in late stages of clinical development but has not partnered up with a large drug maker.