Sobeys Sells Serca Foodservice

Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based Sobeys Inc. has announced the completion of the sale of its national foodservice operations, SERCA Foodservice, effective March 30, 2002. The SERCA operations across Canada, other than the SERCA Pacific division, were sold to SYSCO Corporation, while B.C.-based SERCA Pacific and Ready Fresh were sold to Gordon Food Service, through its Canadian subsidiaries, Neptune Food Service Inc. and Neptune Fresh Produce Inc. Combined after-tax proceeds of the sale to Sobeys total approximately $360 million.
SYSCO was represented by vice-president and general counsel Michael Nichols, and associate general counsel Kent Berke, and by Stikeman Elliott in Toronto with a team led by Curtis Cusinato, and including Lawson Hunter, Q.C., Shawn Neylan, Paul Collins and Patrick Gay (competition), Dean Koumanakos (corporate), Kevin Kelly (tax), Gary Nachshen (pensions), Julie Thibault (employment and labour), Brenda Hebert and Chris Hanson (real estate) and Larry Cobb and Aaron Atcheson (environmental and regulatory). Acting for SYSCO in the U.S. were Jonathan Golden and Robert Finch of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP in Atlanta.
Gordon was represented by Bennett Jones LLP, through its Calgary and Toronto offices, with a team led by Bryan Haynes, and including Craig Harkness, Dustin Gemmill, Mitch Williams and Mark Bain (corporate/commercial), Darcy Moch (tax), Brent Jay (commodity tax), John Batzel (employment), Chris Brown (pensions), George Wowk (intellectual property) and Beth Riley (competition). In the U.S., Gordon was represented by Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey, P.L.C. in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a team that included John McNeil and Bob Stead.
Sobeys and SERCA were represented by Jim Dickson, executive vice-president and general counsel, and by Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales in Halifax, with a team led by Richard Hirsch and Deanne MacLeod, and including Doug Mathews, Q.C., (real property), Paul Festeryga (taxation) and D. Fraser MacFadyen, Lydia Bugden, Candace Thomas and John Hope.