March 22, 2012 5:48 PM

VE, Skadden Grab Roles in Dart’s $1 Billion Solo Cup Purchase

Posted by Tom Huddleston Jr.

Mason, Michigan–based Dart Container is grabbing the famous red Solo Cup in a deal worth more than $1 billion.

Closely held Dart, the world’s largest maker of foam cups and containers, said Wednesday that it will acquire Lake Forest, Illinois–based Solo Cup, maker of the namesake product popular with, among others, country singer Toby Keith and beer-guzzling frat boys everywhere.

Terms of the transaction call for Dart to pay $315 million in cash to acquire Solo, while also paying down $700 million of the cupmaker’s debt, according to The Wall Street Journal. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter, pending regulatory approval.

Private equity fund Vestar Capital Partners IV owns a minority stake in Solo Cup, while the majority of the company is owned by the family of company founder Leo Hulseman.

Vinson Elkins is representing Dart in the matter, with a team led by MA partner James Hanna. He is being assisted by MA partner Chris Schmitt, tax partner Timothy Devetski, antitrust partner Neil Imus, environmental partner Larry Nettles, intellectual property partner Peter Mims, and real estate counsel Lila Marsh.

Solo Cup, meanwhile, turned to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher Flom and a team that includes Chicago-based MA partners Brian Duwe and L. Byron Vance III. Antitrust partner Clifford Aronson, tax partner Maxwell Miller, labor and employment partner John Furfaro, and benefits partner Joseph Yaffe also are advising.

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