A Luxembourg dairy cooperative has joined forces with Danish firm Arla in a bid to sell their milk at a sustainable price.

The Milchunion Hocheifel (MUH), which counts some 240 Luxembourg dairies among its members, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger in a poll on Tuesday.

The pact is expected to unit 12,300 cooperatives under the Arla umbrella across Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Britain and Luxembourg.

The merger is still to be approved by the European Competition Commission. If all goes as planned, it will be effective of October 1.

Arla is currently ranked the number three milk producer in Europe with a turnover of between 7.4 and 9.4 billion euros. MUH hopes that by joining Arla it will be able to ensure its members receive a fair price for the milk produced.