April 12, 2007 – A multidisciplinary team of Chicago- and New York-based lawyers from Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP has advised Nestlé S.A. on its $5.5 billion acquisition of Gerber Products Company and Gerber Life Insurance Company from seller Novartis AG. The acquisition was announced earlier today.
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw’s team of lawyers included partners David A. Carpenter (Corporate), Lawrence R. Hamilton (Insurance), James R. Barry (Tax), Ariel M. Dybner (Real Estate), and Brad L. Peterson (Information Technology). Also assisting were Corporate associates John P. Boelter, Andrew E. Harwel, Bradford C. Stanley and Adrian R. Stewart, Intellectual Property associate Douglas L. Sawyer, Environmental associate Paul M. Drucker and foreign interns Miguel Jauregui Casanueva, Gunter A. Schwandt and Mateus D. Gianeti.
Nestlé’s in-house legal team included Trevor Brown (Vice President, Nestlé Legal), Patrick Beringer (M&A Counsel, Europe) and Yun Choi Au (M&A Counsel, U.S.).
Commented David A. Carpenter, "Our multi-disciplined team worked in close coordination among offices and practice areas and with our client Nestlé’s in-house team to reach this result. Obviously this is a tremendous acquisition for Nestlé and we’re pleased to have played a role in making it happen."
Commented Trevor Brown, "A complex acquisition on this scale is never without its share of legal challenges. We thank the Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw team for providing exceptional business-focused and results-driven legal project management."
This transaction follows on the heels of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw’s representation of Nestlé in its acquisition of the weight loss business, Jenny Craig for $600 million (which was closed during the summer of 2006) and the proposed acquisition of the Medical Nutrition business of Novartis for $2.5 billion.
Nestlé S.A. was founded in 1866 and is today the world’s largest food and beverage company. Based in Vevey, Switzerland, it employs approximately 260,000 people in almost every country of the world.
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is among the largest law firms in the world with more than 1,500 lawyers in seven U.S. cities (Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto and Washington), six European cities (Berlin, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, London and Paris) and in Hong Kong. For further information please visit www.mayerbrownrowe.com.
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Doug Kramer
Global Director of Communications
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
+1.312.701.8290
dkramer@mayerbrownrowe.com