Rollits help Cooplands expand into West Yorkshire
Hull commercial law firm Rollits advised Cooplands (Doncaster) Limited and Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Limited who acquired 80% of Ainsley's retail bakery business.
Each Coopland company bought 10 stores in and around Leeds. Under the deals with Administrators Grant Thornton around 120 jobs have been saved. The acquisitions were funded entirely in cash.
Nasim Sharf, corporate partner, who led the legal team at Rollits said:
"This was an innovative deal as Cooplands (Doncaster) and Coopland & Son (Scarborough) are entirely independent of one another. The shared name is a quirk of history. Pooling Rollits' expertise allowed the deals to complete smoothly and efficiently".
Julian Wild, Food Group Director at Rollits added:
"We have a strong relationship with both Cooplands companies and this was an excellent opportunity to work together to secure most of the Ainsley's retail bakery business".
Paul Coopland, Chief Executive of Coopland & Son (Scarborough) said:
"We worked with Rollits on acquiring the Skeltons business in Hull in 2007 and this acquisition complements our existing operations very well".
Chris Peck, Executive Chairman of Cooplands (Doncaster) said:
"We are delighted with the deal as the heritage and family culture of Ainsley's fits comfortably with our own business which has been in retail baking for almost 80 years".
