A quartet of law firms have advised on the £75m acquisition of Hovis by Associated British Foods (ABF), a deal which is set to combine two of the UK’s biggest bread brands.
A&O Shearman advised Kingsmill owner ABF on the transaction, will see the FTSE 100 company acquire sliced bread competitor Hovis from private equity firm Endless, which has owned the brand since 2020.
In a statement, ABF said that the combination of Hovis with its UK bakery business, Allied Bakeries, would drive ‘significant costs synergies and efficiencies’ and create ‘a profitable UK bread business’, adding that the deal had been prompted by a decline in demand for sliced packaged bread in recent years.
Consumer and retail sector lead Annabelle Croker led the A&O Shearman team advising ABF, supported by corporate and M&A senior associates Anthony Bowen and Laura Milward-Lynch and associates Toluwa Agboola and Charles Ng, while Macfarlanes handled regulatory and antitrust aspects of the deal, led by competition partner Cameron Firth.
Meanwhile, Walker Morris advised Endless, led by corporate partner Debbie Jackson and competition partner Sarah Ward with support from associates Matt Gale and Joel Davies. The Leeds firm is a regular adviser to Endless, and recently worked with the private equity firm – which is also based in Leeds – on its exit from business supplies distributor evo earlier this year.
Freshfields handled competition aspects of the Hovis deal for Endless, with Alastair Chapman, the firm’s global head of antitrust, competition and trade leading the firm’s team.
A&O Shearman has previously advised ABF on a number of acquisitions, including balsamic vinegar producer Acetum in 2017, US natural food producer Anthony’s Goods in 2019 and nutrients developer Fytexia Group in 2022. However, in 2023 the company instead turned to Addleshaw Goddard for advice on its acquisition of dairy tech firm National Milk Records.
On its 2020 acquisition of Hovis, Endless was advised by US firm Dechert, while Hovis was represented by Travers Smith.
