A&O and Weil Gotshal take the United Biscuits auction
Billion-pound food auction attracts advisers as NY duo lands Hanson bond mandate
August 30, 2006 at 08:03 PM
2 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Weil Gotshal & Manges have secured major roles in the billion-pound auction of United Biscuits, which is expected to attract a number of high-profile bidders.
A&O is advising long-term client United Biscuits, fielding a team under corporate partner David Wootton, in the second instruction the company has given the firm since the £575m disposal of its southern European business to Kraft Foods earlier this summer.
London managing partner Mike Francies (pictured) is leading Weil Gotshal's team for Premier Foods, which is heading a consortium that includes buy-out house Lion Capital and Dutch private equity group NPM Capital.
Weil Gotshal's instruction by Premier is the latest in a string of deals the US firm has advised the food company on. Earlier this summer Francies and corporate partner Ian Hamilton advised on its £460m acquisition of Campbell Soup's UK and Irish businesses while last year it advised on the £80m sale of Typhoo Tea.
Premier is one of two front-runners in the auction for United Biscuits, the maker of McVitie's biscuits, KP Nuts and Hula Hoops, with US buy-out giant Blackstone leading another consortium.
The auction is expected to close in a matter of days. It is under-stood that Clifford Chance, which has been building its links with Blackstone in recent years, was initially approached to advise the US house, but was conflicted because of its role advising Kraft on the earlier United Biscuits disposal.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was cited as a leading contender to advise Blackstone, although the US firm was unable to comment as Legal Week went to press.
The United Biscuits auction comes as Simpson Thacher and Weil Gotshal this month took lead roles on a separate $750m (£397m) financing by UK plc Hanson. The deal saw Weil Gotshal London-based capital markets partners Michael Brady and Jeremy Dickens advise Hanson on a US-registered $750m (£396m) bond, with partner James Cole handling UK issues. Simpson Thacher finance heavyweight Walt Looney advised underwriters JP Morgan and Bank of America.
Looney told Legal Week: "This listing was done under the new [US listing] rules, which simplified the listing by eliminating Securities and Exchange Commission review for large companies with a strong trading history such as Hanson."
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