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Express Dairies leaps on restart after Arial deal

LONDON: Shares in British milk producer Express Dairies Plc leapt over 20 percent on Monday as investors were able to trade for the first time since last week's effective take-over of the company.

Express shares were suspended on Thursday as the company unveiled details of a deal with Arial Foods, Europe's biggest dairy co-operative.

Express said it would buy Arial Foods UK from the Danish-based co-operative by issuing it with 311 million new shares, giving it 51 percent of the merged firm.

The suspension was lifted at the start of trading on Monday, and Express shares were up 22 percent at 31 pence, giving the company a market capitalisation of just over 90 million pounds ($141 million).

Some 3.7 million shares had traded compared to its daily average of about 1.3 million.-Reuters