Allen & Overy advised private equity fund PAI partners, owner of R&R Ice Cream on its joint venture with Nestlé to form a new entity which will be called Froneri. The joint venture covers markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and the Philippines, and will employ more than 15,000 people. The deal is expected to close around the end of the year, subject to employee consultations and regulatory approval.
Stephen Lloyd, London corporate PE partner leading on this transaction comments: “This deal brings together two of the world’s top ice cream companies in a highly complex and high value joint venture that will create a global leader, whilst realising substantial synergies. This transaction is a further example of the trend for Private Equity to team up with trade to enhance value for both sets of stakeholders.”
At local level RTPR Allen & Overy has advised on Romanian law aspects of this deal, the team comprising Counsel Loredana Chitu (Boeru), Associate Adrian Cristea and Junior Associate Andrada Rusan.
“We are proud of our excellent results in the private equity sector both globally and in Romania. Allen & Overy has been ranked as the top legal adviser for European private equity buyouts in 2015 by Dealogic M&A Analytics both by deal value and deal volume. In Romania in the last 12 months we have been involved in a record number of 11 private equity deals out of a total of 14 signed M&A deals.”, said Costin Tărăcilă, Managing Partner.
“Such a huge deal is exactly what A&O is all about, combining global reach and local depth. Just to give some flavour on this, think of a due diligence report on Nestlé covering 25 jurisdictions. We are very pleased to be part of such impressive success alongside our colleagues and PAI Partners.”, said Loredana Chitu (Boeru).
In Romania Allen & Overy is present through the exclusive association with the local law firm RTPR (Radu Taracila Padurari Retevoescu) since 2008.
RTPR Allen & Overy has 41 lawyers and its main areas of activity are: financing, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, insolvency and restructuring, competition, labour law, intellectual property law, litigation and arbitration, and providing advice across a range of business sectors including energy, telecommunications, finance, real estate and the pharmaceutical industry.
Selected transactions in which RTPR Allen & Overy have been involved in the last 12 months are set out below:
• Advent International Corporation on the sale of Centrul Medical Unirea (the healthcare services provider “Regina Maria”) to Mid Europa Partners
• Enterprise Investors in relation to the acquisition of “Noriel” group, the largest toys and games retailer in Romania
• Regina Maria, the healthcare services provider and Mid Europa Partners on the acquisition of Ponderas Hospital
• Enterprise Investors in relation to the sale of Smartree Romania, an important player on the market providing outsourcing payroll and personnel administration process services
• DE Master Blenders 1753 on the merger with Mondelez International
• Catalyst Romania fund on the recent investments in Intelligent IT, the developers of the well-known billing software SmartBill and Marketizator Friends, offering to online businesses conversion rate optimisation services, surveys, traffic segmentation and web personalisation
• Technology in Central and Eastern Europe fund in relation to the acquisition of Internet Corp, one of the biggest players on the online publishing market at the moment which owns several well-known websites such as wall-street.ro, 9am.ro, start-up.ro etc.
• Catalyst Romania, a private equity fund managed by 3TS Capital Partners in relation to the investment in Vector Watch group, the producers of the smartwatches having a one-month battery life
• Tymbark (Maspex Wadowice) on the acquisition of Rio Bucovina, the Romanian mineral water producer
Note to the editors:
1. Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,200 staff, including some 530 partners, working in 44 major cities worldwide.
2. RTPR was incorporated in 2004 and has been working in association with Allen & Overy since 2008. RTPR Allen & Overy has a team of 41 lawyers, including 5 partners: Costin Tărăcilă, Victor Pădurari, Alexandru Retevoescu, Mihai Ristici, Valentin Berea and also Prof Dr Lucian Mihai, Of counsel.
3. In this press release, “Allen & Overy” means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings.
4. In this press release, “RTPR Allen & Overy” means Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA in association with Allen & Overy LLP.
5. Allen & Overy has been operating in the CEE region since 1991, when its first office opened in Warsaw. Since then, it has expanded its operations to include Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava and Moscow, all of which are renowned in the market for top quality legal advice combined with local commercial understanding, as well as for their integrity and their pro-active approach to matters. Additionally, Allen & Overy signed an exclusive association with the leading full-service Romanian law firm Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA (RTPR), effective from July 2008, expanding the number of CEE offices in which we are able to provide local law advice to six.
