Simmons Pet Food Acquires Menu Foods Limited

On November 3, 2010, Simmons Pet Food, Inc., an affiliate of Simmons Foods, Inc., completed the acquisition of Menu Foods Limited, the operating subsidiary of Menu Foods Income Fund, for $239 million.

Menu Foods Limited is a leading North American private-label/contract-manufacturer of wet pet food products. Based in Arkansas, the Simmons family of companies represents a highly diversified agricultural-based organization with annual sales of over US$1 billion.
Simmons' businesses include Simmons Pet Food, a manufacturer of wet and dry pet food serving customers across the United States. Simmons' businesses also include a vertically integrated chicken business that focuses on national restaurants and retail mass merchandisers as well as Simmons Feed Ingredients, a quality leader in dry feed ingredients for dairy, cattle, aquaculture and pet food manufacturers.

Simmons was represented in Canada by Stikeman Elliott LLP with a team that included John Leopold and Benoît Dubord (M&A/corporate – Montréal); Luc Bernier and Éric Lévesque (tax – Montréal) and Joel Binder and Victor Chai (M&A – Toronto). Simmons was represented in the United States by Bingham McCutchen LLP with a team that included Richard Welch, Janice Liu and Lise Lipowsky (M&A) and Jeffrey DuRocher (tax).

Menu Foods was represented in Canada by Goodmans LLP with a team that included Stephen Halperin, Neill May and Chat Ortved (M&A/corporate), Carrie Smit and Jarrett Freeman (tax) and Richard Annan (competition) and by Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP with a team that included Norman Goldman and Georgea Wolfe (M&A/corporate). Menu Foods was represented in the United States by Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. with a team that included Steven Dickinson and Thomas Steichen (M&A/corporate), Richard Wegener (competition) and Thomas Garton (tax).