HallMark Meat Hygiene Limited has acquired Meat and Livestock Commercial Services Limited – the carcase classification arm of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board – through its parent company, Vorenta Limited. Duncan Macintosh and Catherine Golledge, both in our Corporate team, acted for Vorenta on its purchase.
The move was first announced in March, and an oversight committee will be established to ensure independence and value for money in the services at abattoirs across the country. The deal formally completed on 30 November.
Duncan Macintosh, Senior Partner, said, ‘We have been delighted to work with the HallMark team in this significant acquisition for them. The food-chain certification space is facing major change, and this is an innovative and creative step from the HallMark team to better serve their customers and the market.’
David Peace, chairman of HallMark, said, ‘We are absolutely delighted with the acquisition of MLCSL, which we believe fits very well with our current operations, to the mutual benefit of both businesses’ future development. MLCSL’s key strengths are its very highly experienced and loyal staff and managers, and we’re very excited about this opportunity to work together, building on MLCSL’s well-acknowledged skills, its powerful brand and expanding its services and reach.’
On working with Capital, David said:
‘This has been a lengthy transaction, by any measure, but working with Capital as our legal adviser, has ensured that we have at all times been in a full state of preparedness to progress through each stage. Throughout my career, there hasn’t really been an alternative source of legal advice to compare with Capital for speed, accuracy and consistency. In my experience our accessibility to the relevant advisers within Capital, working on our deal (in this case Catherine and Duncan) surpasses anything I have known elsewhere.’
