Cadbury Schweppes Acquires Adams Brands from Pfizer

On March 30, 2003, Cadbury Schweppes plc acquired Adams, the branded global confectionery and manufacturing division of Pfizer Inc., for US$4.2 billion. The Canadian component of the global transaction was structured as an asset purchase whereby Toronto-headquartered Cadbury Trebor Allan Inc., the Canadian wholly owned subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes, acquired the Adams division of Pfizer Canada Inc.

The Cadbury Trebor Allan in-house legal team was led by Shari Hosaki, vice-president, general counsel and secretary. In Canada, Cadbury Trebor Allan was represented by Bennett Jones LLP with a team led by John Rook, Q.C., Bruce Barker and Matthew Howorth (corporate), and assisted by Mary Beth Currie and Sharon Duffy (employment), Chris Brown (pension & benefits), Stan Ebel (tax), Martin Kratz (intellectual property), Simon Crawford (real estate) and Brent Jay (commodity tax). Shearman & Sterling in New York, acted as global counsel to Cadbury Schweppes, with a team led by Creighton Condon, Kenneth Gerasimovich and Andrew Noreuil (corporate).

The Pfizer Canada legal team was led by in-house counsel Karyn Pellatt, assisted by Jesmond Parke. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP also represented Pfizer Canada, with a team that included Phil Spencer, Q.C., Frank Monteleone and Carol Anne O’Brien (competition), Stuart English and Craig Podrebarac (corporate), Paul Muchnik (real estate) and Andrew Reback (tax). Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York, acted as global counsel to Pfizer Inc., with a team that included Dennis Block and Louis Bevilacqua (corporate) and Linda Swartz (tax).