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Plenty of slices in pie deal

Deacons and Clayton Utz have represented Patties Bakery in its acquisition of the savoury and sweet bakery assets of Simplot Australia, being the brands Four’N’Twenty, Herbert Adams and…

user iconLawyers Weekly 27 August 2003 Big Law
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Deacons and Clayton Utz have represented Patties Bakery in its acquisition of the savoury and sweet bakery assets of Simplot Australia, being the brands Four’N’Twenty, Herbert Adams and Nanna’s.

Simplot has retained the land and buildings at its Kensington, Victoria facility. Production of both Patties Bakery and Simplot Bakery products will be performed at Patties Bakery facility at Bairnsdale.

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Patties funded the transaction with both a debt facility from National Australia Bank (represented by Mallesons Stephen Jacques) and a hybrid equity issue arranged by Macquarie Bank (represented by Allens Arthur Robinson). Patties’ corporate adviser was Ernst & Young M&A.

As a result of the acquisition, Patties has become the national leader in the savoury pastry segment of the frozen food market.

A family-owned business since 1996, Patties has a history of strong revenue and earnings growth.

Patties’ long-term plan is to offer participation in the future growth of the company to the public and to seek a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Deacons represented Patties in respect of the debt and equity funding of the transaction, and Clayton Utz represented Patties in respect of the acquisition from Simplot. Minter Ellison represented Simplot.

Rod Lyle, the Deacons partner who lead the Deacons team, said it was very pleasing to be involved in a transaction where a long-established, Australian-owned family company was building its brand strength and reach by acquiring well-known and long-standing icon brands such as Four’N’Twenty. The transaction had its challenges in terms of matching the due diligence and covenant requirements for the bank and hybrid equity funding with the purchase negotiations. He said that having two firms involved worked well and he believed that Deacons and Clayton Utz worked very effectively and cooperatively together to meet Patties’ needs for both the funding and the acquisition and to get the deal across the line on the best possible terms for Patties.

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