Acquisition of Leaf International by CVC Capital Partners

DATE
March 2005

TRANSACTION TYPE
Private Equity Acquisition

VALUE
£584 Million

SECTOR
Food & Beverage

Sugar Confectionery Spayne Lindsay & Co. advised CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of CSM Confectionery.

CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) has acquired the Sugar Confectionery division of CSM NV for €850m. The Sugar Confectionery division of CSM, which shall trade as Leaf, is active across Europe and in Asia, and owns strong brands including Lakerol, Dietorelle, Malaco, RedBand, Sportlife, Jenkki and Lutti. The business achieved sales of €745m in 2004. Following the announcement, CVC formed a partnership with Nordic Capital in the acquisition.CSM Confectionery was one of the largest buyouts in the European Consumer sector in 2005.Spayne Lindsay has particularly strong credentials in the sector and with the vendor, having:

• Advised Heinz on the acquisition of CSM’s food division in 2000/2001
• Advised CSM on its acquisition of Leaf, a core part of the Sugar Confectionery division brand portfolio in 1999
• Sold bakery ingredients business of Boehringer Ingelheim to CSM in 1998
• Advised CSM on the sale of Droste chocolate in 1991

Combined with Spayne Lindsay’s good relationship and history with divisional management, many of who will be remaining as the buyout management team, Spayne Lindsay was well placed to provide valuable advice to CVC on an important acquisition.