King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised Xiwang Foodstuffs Co., Ltd. (Xiwang Foodstuffs, stock code: 000639) on its successful acquisition of Kerr Investment Holding Corp. (Kerr), a health food giant in North America. The acquisition of 80% shares of Kerr as the first tranche was completed in October 2016 by a joint venture established by Xiwang Foodstuffs and Primavera Capital and the remaining 20% shares of Kerr will be acquired by Xiwang Foodstuffs in the next three years. The benchmark consideration for the transaction was US$730 million.

Xiwang Foodstuffs is a leading food company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. At present, its main products include small packaged corn oil and bulk corn oil. Primavera Capital is a leading Asia-based investment firm. Kerr is a leading distributor of sports nutrition and weight management food in North America, with a gaggle of brands such as MuscleTech, Six Star, Hydroxycut and Purely Inspired, covering the world's major markets and having a high degree of global market recognition. The acquisition will help to expand Xiwang Foodstuffs’ domestic consumer groups and product awareness, and further increase its market share and profitability. Meanwhile, it will accelerate the globalization of its food products, enhance its global competitiveness, and achieve its strategic objective of balanced growth in the overseas and domestic markets.

KWM acted as legal counsel for Xiwang Foodstuffs, providing professional legal advices in the whole process of the transaction, including the purchase of material assets and the private placement by the listed company. The project was led by partners Wang Kaiding and Song Yanyan. Partners Xie Yuanxun and Jiao Fugang have also provided strong supports.

Partner Wang Kaiding commented, “With our in-depth expertise, rich experience and teamwork across practice groups, we played a significant role in advising Xiwang Foodstuffs to acquire overseas assets, particularly in satisfying domestic securities regulatory requirements and international market practices, thus gaining the client's praise. In overseas M&A deals by an A-share listed company, it is a relatively innovative and advanced practice that utilizing the purchase of material assets in cash and the private placement concurrently in one transaction.”