Dentons has advised Group Spadel, a European family-owned company specializing in the production of natural mineral water, spring water, and natural fruit drinks, on the acquisition of a 93.29% stake in Bulgarian bottled water producer Devin AD from private equity firm Advent International. Dentons worked with Hristov & Partners in Bulgaria, while Advent was advised by CMS on the transaction, which was based on an enterprise value of EUR 120 million. Completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition.
According to Dentons, "Devin employs 478 people and has 2016 forecasted sales of EUR 46 million and EBITDA of EUR 10.7 million. The acquisition of Devin will enable Spadel to further extend its position from its existing operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the UK, in line with its strategy to market natural water brands, such as Spa in Belgium and Brecon Carreg in the UK, with a strong regional position."
Rob Irving, Co-head of Dentons’ Global Private Equity group, who led the firm's team on the deal, said, "Spadel is well-known in Europe for its innovation, sustainability, water resource protection, and product development. Dentons is excited about having helped this quality of an investor make its first investment in the CEE/SEE region."
In addition to Irving, the Dentons team included Partner Chris Watkinson, Counsel Zita Albert, and Associate Ivan Jelocnik.
The Hristov & Partners team was lead by Partner Pavel Hristov, assisted by Counsel Biliana Shagova and Yana Karserdareva, Dragomir Stefanov, and Georgi Ganchev.
The CMS team was led by David Butts, Co-Head of International Private Equity and Advent Relationship Partner for CMS, Partner Atanas Bangachev, and Senior Associate Valentina Santambrogio, and included Partner Graham Conlon, Bulgarian Head of Tax Alexander Rangelov, Senior Associate Veliko Savov, and Associates Vitalii Mainarovych, Trainee Thomas Jessop, and Denitsa Dudevska, Maria Lazarova, Nevena Radlova, and Pavlin Stoyanoff, working from various offices across CEE and London.
Editor's Note: On March 3, 2017, Hristov & Partners informed CEE Legal Matters that Bulgaria's national competition authority had cleared the transaction unconditionally and authorized its immediate execution. According to Hristov & Partners, "obtaining merger control approval was the key condition precedent to closing and the parties may now proceed to implementing the deal." The firm's team representing Spadel in merger control proceedings included Pavel Hristov, Biliana Shagova,and Dragomir Stefanov. A Dentons team led by Rob Irving "assisted on EU merger control analysis and international coordination."
