Slaughters, Eversheds and Wragges named on first formal panel

Slaughter and May, Eversheds and Wragge & Co have been appointed to Premier Foods' first formal roster of external legal advisers.

The trio are the only firms to have been appointed to the panel, with the news likely to be seen as a blow to longstanding adviser Weil Gotshal & Manges, which has been the most visible transactional adviser to Premier in recent years.

Premier, which is the UK's largest food producer and owns leading brands such as Hovis, Mr Kipling, Branston and Bisto, kicked off the review in November 2009 and concluded the process within the last few weeks.

Sixteen firms pitched for a spot on the roster, which the company decided to create in a bid to reduce the number of external advisers it uses and to cut costs.

General counsel and company secretary, Suzanne Wise, said: "We were impressed by the high quality of all of the firms that were invited to take part in the exercise and are pleased to confirm that the new external panel will comprise three core firms."

Eversheds has previously advised Premier across a number of disciplines including commercial disputes, while Slaughters has acted for the banks funding a number of Premier's acquisitions, including a role advising NM Rothschild & Sons as financial adviser to Premier on its acquisition of RHM, the company behind Hovis and Mr Kipling, for more than £1bn in 2006.

However, Weil has carried out the bulk of Premier's public M&A work in the UK for the last six years, winning the relationship through its link with Premier's former owner, buyout house Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (now Lion Capital).

Last year the US law firm advised the company on a £404m fundraising with a team headed up by corporate partner Ian Hamilton and London head Mike Francies. Other transactions for Weil include Premier's acquisitions of Bird's Custard and Angel Delight and its sale of Typhoo Tea.

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