Hogan Lovells and Fieldfisher have provided pro bono advice on the acquisition by The Felix Project, a London-based food redistribution charity, of FareShare’s London operations. 

The deal sees Felix, advised by Hogan Lovells, become one the largest end-to-end food redistribution charities in Europe, bolstered by its acquisition of FareShare’s Deptford food distribution centre.

The Deptford centre will enable Felix to increase its food distribution capacity by 100 tonnes a week, allowing the charity to redistribute food to all London boroughs.

Former deputy chief executive of Hogan Lovells, David Hudd, now a senior counsel the firm, said: “The Felix Project tackles two major problems in today’s society – poverty and food waste. This deal will allow both charities to deliver food more effectively to those with the greatest need in London.”

Hudd led the Hogan Lovells team advising Felix alongside counsel, Karla Dudek, with support from senior associate David Horan and associates Tom Spooner and Joseph Platt.

Fieldfisher, meanwhile, fielded partner Mark Nash with senior associate Karen McGinley and associate Keon Stewart to represent FareShare. 

“This is an exciting, game-changing development for The Felix Project,” commented Mark Curtin, The Felix Project’s CEO, adding: “Having successfully grown to redistribute the equivalent of 7.1 million meals in the first half of 2020, partnering with our friends at FareShare will mean that Felix will be able to continue to grow across the whole of London and get much more food to those communities that need us.”

Felix and FareShare have also entered into a network collaboration agreement as part of the deal, underpinning the ongoing partnership between the two organisations, with agreement being negotiated in July and having closed this November.

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare’s CEO, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that The Felix Project, with their fantastic track record of providing great quality surplus food to vulnerable Londoners, are going to be joining the FareShare network formally as our delivery partner in London.”

Fieldfisher has a long-term connection with FareShare, with regulatory partner Andy Hood, a trustee of the charity, having earlier advised, together with associate, Scott Baxter, to help it obtain a £16m government grant in May 2020.   

Food poverty in the UK has been highlighted in recent months as demand for food banks has increased due to the Covid-19 pandemicf.

The Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network, has reported successive years of rising demand since 2015, but saw a record 47% increase in the number of parcels distributed between April and September 2020 compared to 2019.