Coca-Cola Co.’s multibillion-dollar pact to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. may hold significance beyond its potential for expanding Coke’s reach in the world’s biggest nation.

It could also be the first-ever acquisition of a Chinese company by a foreign entity to be reviewed pursuant to China’s anti-monopoly law that went into effect in August 2008, according to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker corporate partner Maurice Hoo in Hong Kong.

The novelty of the deal notwithstanding, Hoo and Morris, Manning & Martin partner Tim Xia in Atlanta both said they expect Coca-Cola to receive approval for the deal from Chinese antitrust regulators.

Coca-Cola announced on Wednesday that it would pay $2.4 billion to buy the maker of Huiyuan brand juice. Two sources offered differing opinions on the extent to which the would expand Coca-Cola’s market share. Bloomberg News said, citing Euromonitor, said Coca-Cola’s share of the Chinese fruit and vegetable juice market from about 10 percent to about 20 percent. But Merrill Lynch research analyst Christine Lee said Coca-Cola’s share of the Chinese juice market would grow from 28 percent to 37 percent.

No matter the size of Coca-Cola’s market share, officials with the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China want to level the playing field between Chinese and foreign companies in the M&A market, Hoo said.

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Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker partner Rey Pascual in Atlanta advised longtime client TurboChef Technologies Inc. on its agreement to merge with Middleby Corp.

TurboChef and Middleby announced the merger agreement on Tuesday morning. Middleby is acquiring TurboChef for $200 million in cash and stock, according to The Deal. The companies expect to close the merger this year, subject to approval from TurboChef’s shareholders and regulators. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is Middleby’s legal adviser on the deal.

Pascual has been outside corporate counsel to TurboChef since 2004, when he was with Kilpatrick Stockton. TurboChef followed Pascual to Paul Hastings when he moved to that firm in February 2007. Former Kilpatrick Stockton attorney Dennis J. Stockwell is TurboChef’s general counsel.

TurboChef makes high-speed ovens used at the Subway restaurant chain, in Hyatt Hotels properties, and at sports stadiums like Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc. Middleby, of Elgin, Ill., makes restaurant and foodservice cooking equipment.

Jones Day partner Sterling A. Spainhour Jr. in Atlanta recently pitched in to help Flowers Foods Inc. expand its reach in selling sandwich bread, rolls, buns and snack cakes.

Flowers, of Thomasville, Ga., reached two separate purchase agreements for baking companies in the past month: Holsum Bakery Inc. of Phoenix for $150 million, and ButterKrust Bakery of Lakeland, Fla., for $90 million. Both deals are subject to regulatory approval. Spainhour, who was lead counsel to Flowers on both transactions, declined to comment.

Holsum Bakery operates two bakeries in Arizona and sells bread in Arizona, California and Nevada under the Holsum, Aunt Hattie’s and Roman Meal brands. ButterKrust operates one bakery and distributes bread products in Florida under the Country Hearth, Rich Harvest and Sunbeam brands.

Flowers’ brands include Nature’s Own, Cobblestone Mill, Sunbeam and Bunny Bread.

Flowers’ general counsel is Stephen R. Avera. Snell & Wilmer was counsel to Holsum Bakery. ButterKrust’s counsel wasn’t disclosed.

Post Raisin Bran is known for being full of vitamins and also being cholesterol-free. But did you know it’s also sometimes tax-free?

Sutherland partner Reggie Clark in Atlanta was part of a team that advised Kraft Foods Inc. on the spin-off and merger of its Post cereals unit to Ralcorp Holdings Inc. in an all-stock, tax-free deal valued at $2.6 billion. After the merger, Kraft shareholders will own about 54 percent of the new Ralcorp entity and Ralcorp’s existing shareholders will own 46 percent of the new company.

Clark, along with fellow Sutherland tax partners Cliff Muller and Randy Buchanan in Washington, advised Kraft on the tax-free transaction. Sutherland is formerly known as Sutherland Asbill & Brennan.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore advised Kraft on corporate matters related to the transaction. Ralcorp general counsel Charles G. Huber Jr. performed due diligence for his company on corporate matters and the firm hired Bryan Cave for legal advice on tax issues.

Kraft, of Northfield, Ill., makes Oreo cookies, Maxwell House coffee and Kraft cheese. Ralcorp, of St. Louis, is the largest U.S. maker of private-label cereal, cookies, crackers, peanut butter, ketchup and other food items.

Skål! A cluster of Hunton & Williams lawyers from Atlanta and Miami bagged an assignment to advise a maker of Danish pastries on its purchase of a Florida bakery.

The buyer, and Hunton’s client, was the North American unit of Lantmännen Unibake, which is headquartered in Horsens, Denmark. Lantmännen acquired Euro-Bake of St. Petersburg, Fla. for undisclosed terms. All of Lantmännen’s products, including those sold in the U.S., are currently baked in Europe. With the Euro-Bake acquisition, Lantmännen will operate its first bakery on U.S. soil.

Lantmännen makes Schulstad-brand Danish pastries and Pastridor-brand croissants, while Euro-Bake is known for its European-style sandwich breads, baguettes and pretzels.

Working on the deal from Atlanta was partner Catherine D. Little and associates David R. Yates, Molly Haining Scott, Jeremy S. Lemmon and Joshua Z. Mishoe. Yates and partner Fernando C. Alonso in Miami led the Hunton team. Foley & Lardner advised Euro-Bake.