Freshfields guided both the buyer consortium and Cargill to the consummation of the take-private of Nasdaq-listed Sanderson Farms and the concurrent combination of Sanderson Farms with privately-held Wayne Farms. Eleven months after the signing of the merger agreement, the cross-conditioned transactions closed following the receipt of clearance from the DOJ Antitrust Division and the disbursement of the acquisition financing.

The all-cash purchase being paid by the buyer consortium, led by Cargill and Continental Grain, for Sanderson Farms reflects a transaction value of $4.5 billion. In addition to the acquisition of publicly listed Sanderson Farms, the multi-faceted transaction included the formation of a new joint venture between Cargill and Continental Grain and the acquisition of privately held Wayne Farms. Details of the closing can be found here.

The Freshfields team leading on obtaining antitrust clearance consisted of antitrust Partners Mary Lehner and Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum and Associate Elizabeth Giordano. 

The Freshfields team leading on the acquisition financing consisted of leveraged finance Partner Kyle Lakin and Associates Aino Makisalo and Michael David Harris.

The rest of the transaction was led by corporate M&A Partners Paul Humphreys and Ethan Klingsberg and Associates Vinita Sithapathy, Lucy Lei, Anthony Paladino and Victor Ma; executive compensation and employee benefits Partner Lori Goodman and Associate Chaim Leggiere; data privacy and IP Partner Menachem Kaplan and Associate Marissa Yu; and compliance Partner Olivia Radin, Counsel Stephanie Brown Cripps and Associate Elvira Sihvola.

ENDS