20 September – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Linklaters has advised US private equity house, Sun Capital Partners, on the acquisition of the European branded clothing business of Sara Lee Corporation, which includes brands such as Playtex, Wonderbra, Gossard, Dim, Unno and Lovable. The acquisition was made by Branded Apparel France SAS, a new company formed by Sun Capital Partners.
The transaction, which was announced on 14 November 2005, involved the acquisition of shares and business assets in 24 different jurisdictions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Sara Lee is restructuring its business to focus on its food and drink, household and body-care operations.
Linklaters’ multi-jurisdictional, cross-practice team was led by Richard Youle and comprised lawyers in private equity, corporate, banking, tax, IP, real estate, employment, pensions, competition and environment in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Munich, Lisbon, Brussels, Stockholm, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.
Kirkland & Ellis and Freshfields acted as legal advisers to the seller; Morgan Lewis provided US legal advice to the investors; UBS provided corporate finance advice to the seller; and Deloitte & Touche provided corporate finance and tax advice to the investors.
