Legal team behind multimillion-pound food deal revealed

Shakespeare Martineau’s corporate team in the East Midlands has advised on the multimillion-pound sale of one of the UK’s leading Indian snack brands.

Leicester-headquartered Cofresh Snack Foods has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by Vibrant Foods, a newly-established ethnic foods company, which also comprises TRS Foods and East End Foods.

Cofresh Snack Foods is made up of two key brands; Cofresh, the number one Indian snack brand in the UK, which manufactures over 200 traditional South Asian savoury products, and Eat Real, the market-leading healthy snacking company and number one free-from snacking brand in the UK, whose flagship products include lentil, hummus and quinoa chips.

Established in the UK in 1974 and now a second-generation family business, the Patel family, Cofresh Snack Foods’ selling shareholders, will be reinvesting in the new Company with a minority equity stake.

The Shakespeare Martineau team was led by Roy Botterill, corporate partner and head of the Leicester office, and advised the Patel family on all legal and corporate aspects of the deal, including property, tax and employment. Sanjay Khullar from Fortus Business Advisors and Accountants also acted for the Patel family.

Botterill said: “Cofresh brands are a familiar sight on supermarket shelves across the country and to see a deal of this magnitude complete – against the backdrop of COVID-19 – is fantastic.

“It just goes to show that there are still real opportunities, across the East Midlands marketplace and beyond, for innovative, successful brands to secure investment and find buyers. Cofresh and its two brands were a strong proposition for any buyer and we look forward to seeing one of Leicester’s most prominent businesses continuing to grow and thrive.”

Priyesh Patel, shareholder and managing director of Cofresh, said: “Becoming part of Vibrant Foods marks an exciting new chapter in our history. There are tremendous growth opportunities for our sector, as popularity for ethnic and healthy snacking products continues to grow.

“Our products are well-established in both markets, thanks to the tireless work of our employees and founders, whom I’d like to thank for their support and commitment to excellent customer experience, alongside our global suppliers and customers in the UK and abroad. Being part of a larger group will allow us to accelerate our growth trajectory, maintaining and building our market-leading product offering, and helping us penetrate new markets and distribution channels.”