Ashurst is advising Arla Foods on its proposed acquisition of Yeo Valley Dairies Limited, a subsidiary of Yeo Valley Group Limited. The transaction, which announced on 8 February, will give Arla the rights to use the Yeo Valley brand in milk, butter, spreads and cheese under an intellectual property licence. The Yeo Valley yogurt, ice cream, cream and desserts business will continue to be run independently by the Yeo Valley Group.

Arla is a global dairy co-operative and is the largest dairy company in the UK. The transaction is part of its strategy to increase sales of organic dairy products by offering customers a wide range of products at attractive prices.

The transaction has been signed with completion being conditional on merger approval by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Ashurst corporate team is being led by partner Simon Beddow, assisted by associate Hayley Gow and junior associate Jake Hadfield. Commercial advice is being provided by counsel Brian Murphy, assisted by junior associate William Barrow. Competition advice is being provided by partner Nigel Parr and senior associate Steven Vaz, with economists David Wirth and Tom Punton and associate Danica Barley. Also advising are tax partner Alexander Cox with associate Shayaan Zaraq Bari, employment partner Crowley Woodford with associate Liz Ramsaran and junior associate Sarah-Beth Neville and banking partner Martyn Rogers with junior associate Sarah Curry.

Ashurst has a long-standing relationship with Arla, including advising on its merger with Milk Link in 2012 and advising Arla on the 2013 process by which Milk Partnership Limited (now called Arla Milk Cooperative Limited) became a perpetual corporate member of Arla Foods amba.