Swiss-Irish baked goods firm, Aryzta, has rejected a takeover proposal from investment firm Elliot Advisors.
The company, which owns the Cuisine de France brand, said the decision was taken after careful review of the offer.
"This unaminous decision by the Board has been taken after very careful consideration in line with its fiduciary duties and in the interests of all stakeholders," it said.
Earlier this month, shareholder Elliott had made a conditional offer for the entire share capital of the company at 0.80 Swiss francs per share.
The offer was at the same level as an initial non-binding proposal from Elliott that was made to the board last month.
It valued Arytzta, which supplies buns to McDonald's, at €734m.
The decision came as the board updated the market on its strategic plan, which includes a commitment to focus on its Europe and APAC markets and to dispose of its troubled businesses in both North America and Latin America.
"Our engagement with interested parties for these businesses is progressing well and we have already communicated this to our key customers in these regions," it said in a statement.
"As outlined previously, we expect to secure sufficient proceeds to significantly reduce debt levels over the next six to nine months."
"We will also ensure that we have a smooth transition plan in place in North America and Latin America to safeguard the interests of our customers and employees, our service levels as well as, our product standards."
It also said it plans to reduce central overheads in the remaining European and APAC business by 25% by the end of 2021.
"The process to remove central costs has already started as we simplify operations and make local and country management responsible for all their costs and profit delivery targets," the company said.
"This will also result in improvements in our customer engagement experience through faster decision-making, shorter new product innovation lead times, improved customer service, and enhanced quality control responses."
The firm added that it operates in growing markets where many of its European competitors are mid-sized privately owned businesses with succession issues.
"Once we have improved our performance and reduced our debt levels, ARYZTA will have the potential to actively participate in this likely market consolidation process," it stated.
