Dentons has advised Bounty Brands, part of the South African Coast2Coast fund, in connection with its acquisition of the Unitop group, a Polish manufacturer of sesame snaps, halva, and other confectionary products and snacks. SSW advised the Unitop Group on the deal.
Unitop employs 450 people. It exports to many European countries as well as to North America, Australia and Asia.
“We are honored to have had this opportunity to work with Coast2Coast, a dynamic player in Poland’s private equity market. This is the second transaction we have handled for the client this year, on the back of our work on the acquisition financing of the Krosno glassworks,” said Partner Piotr Dulewicz, Head of Dentons’ Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions teams in Poland, referring to the October 2016 acquisition of the Krosno S.A. in liquidation bankruptcy (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 10, 2016).
The deal is part of a recent flurry of acquisitions by Coast2Coast in Poland, including its acquisition of the Wielkopolska Wytwornia Zywnosci Profi manufacturer of pâtés and soups (reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 30, 2017), its acquisition of the Stella Pack household products producer (reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 17, 2017), and its acquisition of Polish gluten-free manufacturer Bezgluten (also reported on November 17, 2017).
The Dentons team on the Unitop acquisition included Partners Piotr Dulewicz and Pawel Grabowski and Senior Associate Michal Wasiak from the Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions teams in Warsaw, as well as Partner Agnieszka Stefanowicz-Baranska and Senior Associate Anna Gulinska from the Competition and Antitrust team.
The SSW team was led by Partner Pawel Chyb, working with Senior Associate Katarzyna Slarz, Partner Maciej Duch, and Associates Roza Warszawik and Pawel Czyzewski. The firm's Tax team was led by Partner Patrycja Gozdziowska and Przemek Szabat and Associate Przemek Szabat.
