WhiteWave Foods acquires Vega for US$550 million

McMillan LLP has co-advised, with Haynes and Boone LLP, The WhiteWave Foods Company on its acquisition of Sequel Naturals, a leader in plant-based nutrition products with its internationally recognized Vega brand, for approximately US$550 million in cash.

The McMillan team was led by Sandra Knowler, and included Peter Botz (Tax), Allie Ketcham, Alice Lin and Cecilia Tsang (Corporate/Commercial), Janine MacNeil, Lisa Parliament, Dan Edmondstone, Ratika Gandhi and Josh Chad (Product Regulatory Matters), Neil Campbell, Jun Chao Meng and Ryan Gallagher (Competition Act and Investment Canada Act), David McInnes, Ryan Black and Tyson Gratton (Employment), and Mark Neighbor (Securities).

The Haynes and Boone team was led by Dallas partner Jan Sharry and included John McGowan, and Suzie Trigg, Anthony Montague, Zach Burnett and Jarom Yates. Others included Susan Wetzel (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation), Tamara Devitt (Labor & Employment), Gavin George (IP), Sam Lichtman (Tax), Carie McKinney (Environmental), David Taubenfeld (Insurance), Chris Kang (Corporate) and Ben Mesches (Appellate).

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deloitte Tax LLP acted as financial and tax advisors to WhiteWave Foods. Moelis & Company LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as financial advisors and Winston & Strawn LLP and Stikeman Elliot LLP acted as legal advisors to Vega.

The WhiteWave Foods Company (NYSE: WWAV) is a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages, premium dairy products and organic produce throughout North America and Europe. Vega produces a broad range of market-leading plant-based nutrition products containing nutrient-dense, superfood ingredients. The company generated net sales of about $100 million over the last twelve months, representing growth of more than 30 percent on a constant currency basis, and grew at a faster rate on a year-to-date basis in 2015.