Baker & McKenzie has advised global tobacco group British American Tobacco ("BAT") on its agreement to acquire TDR d.o.o. and other tobacco and retail assets ("TDR") from Adris Group d.d.("Adris") for an enterprise value of €550 million.

TDR is the leading independent cigarette manufacturer in Central Europe with a market leading position in Croatia and a position of scale in Bosnia and Serbia.  This acquisition will enable BAT to significantly grow its business in the region.

Baker & McKenzie partner Robert Adam said: "We are delighted to have supported BAT on its strategic acquisition of TDR, which provides BAT with an exciting platform for future growth."

Craig Harris, M&A Counsel at BAT, said: “This is an important acquisition for BAT’s Central Europe business giving us the benefit of a fully integrated company with significant scale in the markets concerned.  Baker & McKenzie’s support and input throughout this process has been a key factor in enabling us to successfully agree this deal.”

The Baker & McKenzie team was led by London-based Corporate partner, Robert Adam and included London-based Competition partner Keith Jones, Senior Associates Jannan Crozier, Ron Kirschner and Alex Stratakis and Associate Alex Gee. It was supported by Wolf Theiss as local counsel in Croatia and the Balkans. Dentons advised Adris.

The deal remains subject to conditions including various anti-trust approvals and Adris shareholder consent and is expected to complete in October 2015.