Food and drink

We advised a UK-based luxury group of private hotels, restaurants, and private members' clubs in the disposition of a majority stake of the company to a US-based investment fund.

We handled employment matters for a high-end vintner, including the development of templates for employee offer letters and confidentiality restraints, and developing managed-risk employee terminations.

We provided guidance to a European winery at every step in the process of establishing its international operations.

Advised an international beer manufacturer on trademark infringement in Singapore.

We provided comprehensive and strategic advice to various leading Italian and French wine producers in connection with entering into international distribution arrangements in the USA, Canada and Northern Europe.

We represented an individual in their investment in a California limited liability company that is in the business of owning, developing and managing citrus groves in California.

We advised a Middle Eastern specialty food start-up on IP and US tax structuring and distribution arrangements for their expansion into the US.

Managed the trademark portfolio of a leading Italian wine manufacturer.

We advised a leading Italian and international wine producer in a joint venture with a leading Italian food brand for the establishment of a chain of wine bars in the US, Europe, and Japan through a combination of owner-managed and franchise units.

We advised a leading European venture capital fund on its minority investment in various US start-up food and beverage companies.

We represented investors investing in a high-end Italian food market chain comprised of restaurants and food stations in New York, Chicago and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

We structured investment by a private equity fund into a leading diet brand and related asset reorganisation to monetise 70% of founder equity.

We managed the trade mark portfolio of a leading Italian wine manufacturer.

A family office, based in Florida, USA, carrying out an underlying investment in the Venezuelan dairy sector sought our advice on the deal.

We acted for the largest hypermarket retailer in the United Kingdom in relation to its real estate acquisition and leasing matters in the PRC.

Formation and private offering of a US micro-venture capital fund focusing on the business-to-business digital marketplace and advice on its investments in three portfolio companies: a platform providing athletes and parents with a suite of online tools to streamline the recruiting process; a platform providing restaurants with a trained food delivery staff and system as well as an app which communicates orders received by restaurants; and a platform that allows manufacturers and distributors in the IT sector to communicate with resellers of their products.

We used our experience of working with entrepreneurs to help the founders of a food business providing goods to UK high-street retailers as they sold their company. Our lawyers assisted with the commercial aspects of the sale to a private equity firm, handling complex UK remittance tax issues and US tax issues. We were also involved in our clients’ reinvestment in a new holding company.

Sometimes our litigators’ biggest successes lie in avoiding litigation. At one stage, it seemed that there was no way for an Italian winemaker we represented to avoid a costly court battle after it terminated its longstanding US importer. However, through careful strategic decisions we were able to ease its transition from working with the US partner to its own recently formed affiliate without seeing the inside of a court room.

With much of our history focused on acting for successful individuals, families and entrepreneurs, we are not afraid to go up against large financial institutions. In one complex case, we acted against one of the largest UK banks in a dispute relating to a loan for the development of a household name supermarket, and the use of an interest rate swap to ‘hedge’ the loan.

Italian company Newlat specialises in distribution for the agro-food sector, offering a large point of sale network across Italy and further abroad. Withers offered advice to Netlat to assist during their acquisition of a manufacturing plant in Ozzano Taro, Italy from Heinz.