Over ten firms were involved in the complex cross-border merger that saw three of The Coca-Cola Company’s bottlers unite to create the world’s largest independent bottler for the soft drink maker.
Combining the operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), Coca-Cola Iberian Partners (CCIP) and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke (CCEAG), Coca-Cola European Partners will be headquartered in London and serve over 300 million consumers across 13 countries. The new company is expected to have net revenues of $12.6bn and a value of around $31bn.
Allen & Overy acted for Spanish bottler CCIP and CCEAG with a large cross-border team from London, New York, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg and Brussels, led by M&A partners Edward Barnett in London and Eric Shube in New York. Spanish leader Uría Menéndez also advised.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton used a team based in New York, London and Brussels to represent The Coca-Cola Company, with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advising on US tax matters and Clifford Chance in Germany.
London-based Cleary partner Simon Jay, who worked on corporate aspects of the deal, told Legal Business: ‘This time of year can get very busy, with people wanting to get deals finalised before taking holidays in August. It was a great collective effort to finalise a complex, cross-border deal involving English, US, Spanish, Dutch and German law, and it was essential that advisers on all sides worked constructively together to meet the demanding timetable.’
Slaughter and May represented CCE on UK matters, with a team including William Underhill and Padraig Cronin, while Cahill Gordon & Reindel acted in the US, Hengeler Mueller in Germany, Pérez-Llorca in Spain and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in the Netherlands. CCE’s Franchise Relationship Committee used Clay Long Esq and Baker & Hostetler as legal counsel.
At closing, which is expected in the second quarter of 2016, CCIP and The Coca-Cola Company will own 34% and 18% of the business respectively, with CCE shareowners taking the remaining 48% as well as a one-time cash payment of $14.50 per CCE share.
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