Northern Foods will also sell its yoghurt facility at Cuddington in Cheshire. It will use the cash it raises from the sale to reduce its borrowings.
It is understood that Nestle has yet to find a buyer for its Crosse & Blackwell business, which also includes SunPat peanut butter, but it is thought to have a price tag of between £80m and £120m. The sale is likely to lead to the loss of more than 100 UK jobs.
The sale and the acquistion see Nestle focus its strategy in the UK on chilled dairy, confectionery, beverages and milks and nutritions.
Ski and Northern Vale's yoghurt brands spent a total of £1.9m on advertising in the last 12 months. Ski's advertising is handled by Partners BDDH and its media planning and buying by PHD and Zenith.
According to Christopher Haskins, Northern Foods chairman: "This deal represents good value for our shareholders. Multinational players now dominate the branded yoghurt and fromage frais market in the UK."
He added: "The retention of Eden Vale's newly invested Minsterley facility maintains our presence in the growing dairy desserts sector, which we intend to develop through our continued focus on product quality and innovation."
While the Ski and Munch Bunch brands are part of Northern Foods' Eden Vale range, the company will hang on to its Eden Vale, Minsterley (Shropshire), plant where it has recently completed a substantial investment programme.
In the financial year ended March 31 2001, the business to be sold had a turnover of £77m.
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