George Weston closes the sale of its Weston Foods ambient business
Torys acted as counsel to George Weston with a team that included Adrienne DiPaolo, David Forrester, Emily Debono, Pat Chapman, Brody Appotive and Brianna Pioli (corporate/M&A), Ebad Rahman and Shawn Langlois (contracting), Mitch Frazer, Darryl Hiscocks and Brad Tartick (pensions and employment), Andrew Gray (advisory), Molly Reynolds, Ronak Shah and Nic Wall (privacy), Michelle Nelles, Teresa Reguly and Michele Clarizio (IP and regulatory), Michael Fortier (environmental), Tom Zverina (financing), Rose Bailey and Diana Pegoraro (real estate), Dany Assaf, Rebecca Wagner and Ian Li (competition), Corrado Cardarelli, Gwen Watson and Benjamin Mann (tax).
On November 15, 2021, George Weston Limited ("George Weston") announced that it signed a definitive agreement to sell the Weston Foods ambient bakery business to affiliated entities of Hearthside Food Solutions, LLC ("Hearthside") for aggregate cash consideration of C$370,000,000.
Closing of the transaction was announced on December 29, 2021.
Together with the sale of the fresh and frozen business, which closed on December 10, 2021, the sale of the ambient business represents the disposition of George Weston's entire bakery business, for an aggregate value of C$1.47 billion. The company expects to return the net proceeds from the transactions to shareholders through share repurchases over time.
Further information can be found on Canada Newswire’s website.
The Weston Foods ambient business comprises a leading North American manufacturer, serving retail and foodservice customers with cookies, crackers, cones and wafers in Canada and the United States.
Hearthside Food Solutions is a leading contract manufacturer and producer of baked foods, snacks, nutrition bars, frozen, refrigerated, and fresh sandwiches/entrees as well as a full-service provider of food packaging services for many of the world's premier brands.
George Weston is a Canadian public company founded in 1882. The company operates through its three reportable operating segments, Loblaw Companies Limited, Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and Weston Foods.
- Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services.
- Choice Properties owns, manages and develops a high-quality portfolio of commercial retail, industrial, office and residential properties across Canada.
- The Weston Foods operating segment includes a leading North American bakery that offers packaged bread and rolls in Canada as well as frozen and artisan bread and rolls, cakes, donuts, pies, biscuits and alternatives throughout Canada and the United States.