Kirkland & Ellis Represents Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on Acquisition of Burton’s Biscuits

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP advised Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers) on the acquisition of Burton’s Biscuits, a major player in the UK biscuit market. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. Burton’s management will maintain a significant minority stake in the company. The acquisition of Burton’s from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC resulted from a competitive bidding process and was led by Teachers’ private equity investment division, Teachers’ Private Capital (TPC).

Burton’s is the only major biscuit manufacturer in the UK to focus solely on biscuits. The company employs over 2,000 people around the UK, focused in three main manufacturing facilities, with head office in St. Albans. Recent annual sales were more than £340 million. Burton’s has some of the best known brands in the UK biscuit market including Cadbury Fingers, Maryland Cookies, Jammie Dodgers, Wagon Wheels and Lyons.

The Kirkland team was led by London-based corporate partner Gavin Gordon, with corporate partner Justin Hutchinson and associates Lara Pender, Thibault Reichelt and Jackson Blair, finance partners Philip Crump and Sam Norris, and associates Edward Reilly and Warren Stapley, tax partner Jane Scobie and associate Jason Pegnall, antitrust partner Sarah Jordan, and  IP partner Shannon Yavorsky and associates Emma Flett, Claire Callue and Jennifer Wilson. BNP Paribas provided the financing for the transaction and was represented by a team from Hogan Lovells led by Matthew Cottis.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,600-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate, restructuring, tax, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in London, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.