Wedlake Bell LLP, together with its TELFA counterpart Legalitax, has advised the Italian (and international) company Arneg SpA ("Arneg"), a leading manufacturer of equipment for the retail sector, on its acquisition of the UK supermarket refrigeration manufacturer, Manor Concepts Limited ("Manor Concepts"). The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Manor Concepts has been trading in the UK for over 18 years, manufacturing and providing the major UK supermarkets with refrigerated cabinet refurbishment services. For over a decade, it has been developing and marketing its own range of retail display cabinets. Manor Concepts has a strong team of experienced engineers, who develop bespoke and innovative new products, making it a UK leader in retail display refrigeration.
The manufacturing capabilities at Manor Concepts will strengthen the existing Arneg dealership network. It will provide Arneg with access to a local production and development facility and allow Arneg to continue to provide the highest level of service to its clients worldwide.
Janice Wall, a partner and head of the corporate team and Richard Belsey, a senior associate in the corporate team, led the transactional team for Wedlake Bell together with Franceso Camilotti from Legalitax. Lawyers from Wedlake Bell's tax, real estate, IP, employment and pensions & employee benefits teams were also part of Arneg's transaction acquisition team. Arneg's financial advisers were C.W. Downer.
Commenting on the transaction, Janice Wall said:
"We were extremely pleased to advise Arneg on their first expansion into the UK market. The acquisition involved complex cross-border issues that required our high level of full service expertise to ensure that it took place efficiently. In addition, this was the first transaction that we have worked on with Legalitax and both firms worked together seamlessly; this is a real success for both firms and for our European network, TELFA. We wish Arneg the best of luck in their new strategic venture and look forward to working with them in the future."
Founded in 1989 the Trans-European Law Firm Alliance (TELFA) is an international alliance of independent European law firms which covers the jurisdictions of Europe and beyond. TELFA member firms now have more than 700 lawyers throughout Europe. Through its affiliation with the USLAW NETWORK "USLAW" member firms of TELFA and their clients have access to known and trusted legal advisers throughout the American continent. Wedlake Bell partner Richard Isham is currently president of TELFA.