Winckworth Sherwood has acted for SugaRich Limited in its recent corporate acquisition of Sweet Dreams Limited, a chocolate manufacturer based in Cramlington and probably most famous for its Choc Nibbles™ line of products. SugaRich is the UK’s leading food re-processor and the acquisition of Sweet Dreams represents an exciting synergy and opportunity for both companies to expand in a growing area of the confectionery market. Existing management is being kept on at Sweet Dreams and together SugaRich and Sweet Dreams are looking forward to growing its confectionery brands and establishing its presence in stores throughout the UK—watch this space!
The deal itself was structured as a share acquisition which involved a complex target and set of shareholdings, with a wide range of assets from material contracts, commercial real estate, IP and not in the least production line machines called Betsy 1 and Betsy 2. David Emery and James Duncan led on the commercial and corporate elements of the deal, and on the deal overall, supported by Celia Raven and Thomas Horner. Robin Dabydeen in WS’s tax team advised on transactional tax matters and Fiona Hallinan ran the property due diligence.
Winckworths were pleased to have driven forward the deal and supported the client in doing so, having achieved the tight deadlines originally set by the parties with a few hours to spare and notwithstanding the Christmas break between agreement and signing. Alex Keogh, the managing director of SugaRich has said that the team is “looking forward to working with Winckworths on future transactions”.
David Emery, Senior Associate and transaction lead noted “we are delighted to have worked with SugaRich whose team understood the commercial and legal practicalities of their deal better than almost any client we have worked with before, and our team is grateful for having been able to play a role in achieving a successful outcome for them. My only concern is that I have now learned too much about chocolate production, panning and coating and may have it try it out for myself…”