Geldards act on sale of Capper & Co Ltd to AF Blakemore & Son Ltd

A combined team from Geldards acted for the shareholders of Capper & Co, which operates Spar stores across the UK, on its sale to Wolverhampton based AF Blakemore in a multi-million pound transaction.

The new business will have a combined turnover of £1.1bn and serve 1,096 Spar stores across the Midlands and the south of the UK.

Peter Blakemore, AF Blakemore Group Managing Director, said "This is a great opportunity to bring two long established, family-owned businesses together and allow us to move forward in the growing UK convenience store sector. AF Blakemore and Capper & Co are similar companies that already have a shared history and a common set of values".

Chairman of Capper & Co, Bill Capper, who along with Robert Upton the group’s Managing Director have joined the AF Blakemore board, said "I believe that integration with AF Blakemore & Son is the right way forward for Capper & Co. It will strengthen Spar in the UK and bring many opportunities and benefits to the business".

The Geldards team was led by Andrew Morris who was assisted by Susan Sandford, Delyth Davies and Madeline Rees (corporate), Karl Baranski (banking), Andrew Evans (tax) and Steve Jenkins (pensions and employment) while Kathryn Gates led a large property team including Rowland Davies, Fiona Hammett, Caroline O'Flaherty, Adam Thomas and Arwyn Rees which dealt with due diligence on 52 properties.

Andrew Morris, Head of the Corporate team at Geldards in Wales said: "We were delighted to act for this long standing client in what was a challenging deal particularly in terms of the number of selling shareholders involved and the due diligence required on the extensive Capper property portfolio. It was a pleasure to assist a company with such a long history to achieve the next stage in its development".

Pinsent Masons acted for AF Blakemore and Grant Thornton (Cardiff office) acted for Capper & Co.