Weil and Jones Day have secured lead roles on the near-£1bn sale of Saputo’s UK dairy division, which includes household name brands such as Cathedral City and Clover.
The deal will see French dairy giant Lactalis, which currently owns brands such as President and Galbani, take ownership of Canadian parent company Saputo’s UK brands for a sum of £998m.
Weil is advising Lactalis, led by London M&A partners Jack Gray and office co-managing partner David Avery-Gee, alongside Paris-based M&A partner Yannick Piette.
The firm has worked with the acquirers before, advising Lactalis on the $2.1bn acquisition of General Mills’ US yogurt business last year. Piette also led on that transaction, while Washington DC partners Megan Granger, Mark Seidman and Meagan Bellshaw handled US antitrust matters.
Jones Day is acting for longstanding client Saputo on the transaction, led by London M&A partner Vica Irani.
The firm has advised Saputo on a number of previous transactions, including its sale of a majority interest in its Argentina dairy division to Gloria Foods for $630m in June this year, led by corporate practice leader Randi Lesnick in New York and M&A partner Faisal Delawalla in Chicago.
The deal is expected to complete in Q1 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
Weil’s London team has worked on a number of other high-value deals of late, including advising facilities company OCS on its acquisition of UK professional services provider Mitie for £3.1bn
The deal, one of the largest UK M&A deals announced this year, was led by private equity partner Jonathan Wood and M&A partner Sarah Flaherty, both based in London.
