Wragges advises on City deal

Birmingham firm Wragge & Co has staked its claim to the cream of City work by advising on one of the largest leveraged acquisitions ever completed in Europe.

It worked alongside Slaughter and May and Lovells, advising the management of food company Ranks Hovis McDougall (RHM) on its sale by manufacturing giant Tomkins to a private equity firm.

Slaughters advised Tomkins, while Lovells represented the largest private equity firm in Europe, Doughty Hanson & Co, on its purchase of RHM for £1.4bn.

The Slaughters team was led by head of corporate Nigel Boardman, while corporate finance partner Allan Murray-Jones led the Lovells team.

Wragges pulled together a team of eight partners to work on the deal, fronted by corporate partners Andy Lawton Smith, Maurice Dwyer and Richard Haywood.

Haywood had worked with RHM before being instructed on the deal.