Pinsent Masons and TLT Solicitors have been toasting their success after winning mandates on the ?20m sale of Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery to Molson Coors.

Andrew Webber
TLT acted for the Sharp’s shareholders, including ­former owners Nick Baker and Joe Keohane. The firm acted for the latter on his 2003 buyout of the ­brewery, which makes Doom Bar ­Bitter.
TLT corporate partner Andrew Webber led the deal, with support from the real estate leisure team featuring partner Julian Mant.
Birmingham-based ­corporate finance partner David Stevenson led the Pinsents team advising ­Molson Coors, which already lists Carling, Grolsch a nd Corona among its brands.
Webber said: “TLT has worked?alongside?the ­brewery’s entrepreneurial owners Nick and Joe for a number of years, and it’s great to see their plans to build Sharp’s into a national brand come to fruition.
“This transaction represents a great opportunity for Sharp’s to grow its brands internationally, both in ­volume and distribution.”
He added: “It was a deal that was quite sensitive, with it being an exit for our clients, so it needed to be managed carefully.”
Webber went on to say that he expected the former owners, who held stakes in food companies prior to buying Sharp’s, to look for further investment opportunities following the exit.
Molson Coors has used a range of legal advisers in the past, including Kirkland & Ellis and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in the US, and Herbert Smith, which acted on its purchase of a majority stake in Cobra in 2009, in the UK.