Dr Oetker snaffles up baking and dessert business from Unilever
Leeds-headquartered baking and cookery business Dr Oetker has acquired Alsa baking and dessert business from Unilever.
The £161m-turnover firm, which produces frozen pizzas and baking products and has its UK HQ at Thorpe Park, completed the deal following French Competition Authority approval. It sees Dr Oetker further expand its current brand offering, including the purchase of the Alsa manufacturing unit in Ludres, France.
The Leeds office of Gateley, the legal business of law-led professional services group Gateley, advised Dr Oetker.
Didier Muller, General Manager for Dr. Oetker in France said: “Alsa is a brand whose know-how and product quality perfectly complement our product range. Our goal is to pursue the brand’s growth and development both in France and internationally, based on its know-how and innovation capabilities.”
A Gateley team led by Leeds Corporate partner Sandip Khroud and Consultant Mark Green, Commercial partner Paul de Vince and Tax partner, James Gopsill, with support from senior associate Mailin Bala and solicitors Charlotte Mason and Rebecca Bennett, has been working on the deal for the past year.
French law support was provided by a team from Paris law-firm Wenners, headed up by Mr Jens Förderer.
Khroud said: “We were pleased to advise on this purchase for Dr. Oetker, which is complementary to the company’s core baking business activity.”
“This deal will further add to the company’s ongoing international expansion of the Dr. Oetker group, which is already a widely respected household name. We worked with multiple teams within the Gateley network, including corporate, commercial and tax to deliver this large-scale deal, with excellent support given by.”
