De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Allen & Overy have bagged the lead advisory roles on Danone’s $17bn (£8.4bn) offer for Dutch baby food maker Royal Numico.
Dutch leader De Brauw was instructed to advise Danone for the first time on a deal the French food group claims will create the world’s largest food company.
The deal is expected to close by October and will see Danone take over Royal Numico, the baby food producer that owns brands including Cow & Gate, Milupa and Nutricia.
De Brauw Amsterdam based corporate partner Paul Cronheim is leading the team advising Danone, assisted by corporate associates Gaby Smeenk, Anja Mutsaers and Ferdinand Hengst.
A&O Netherlands-based corporate partner Jan Louis Burggraaf is advising Numico.
Cronheim commented: “This was an extremely fast and professional process and I am impressed by the speedy negotiations on either side. We appreciate working for bluechip, leading companies such as Danone.”
It is the latest major M&A deal on which De Brauw has recently won a role. The firm is currently advising Dutch manufacturer Stork on its $2bn (£1bn) sale to European buy-out house Candover.
The Numico transaction comes a week after Danone announced its intentions to sell its biscuit business to Kraft Foods for €7.2bn (£3.57bn). On that deal Clifford Chance is advising Kraft and France’s Bredin Prat is advising Danone.