Avellum has advised FMO (the Dutch development bank) and Diligent Capital Partners on their joint acquisition of a 16% equity stake in Allseeds SA and on the successful application for Competition Authority approval. Hugh Owen, acting through Go2Law, advised FMO/DCP on matters of English law. Allen & Overy advised Allseeds on the deal.
Allseeds is one of the largest producers and exporters of vegetable oils and meals in Ukraine. The company operates a leading-edge multi-seeds oilseed processing plant with a capacity of 2400 MT/day for sunflower seeds, 1800 MT/day for rapeseeds, and 1500 MT/day for soybeans, in Yuzhny, Ukraine’s deepest port. Allseeds also provides transshipment services for vegetable oils and oilseed meals via its own terminals in Yuzhny where vessels with deadweights of over 100,000 MT and drafts of up to 14.6 meters can be loaded to serve remote destinations such as China, India, and the Middle East.
The joint acquisition of the equity stake provides financing for Allseeds’ growth strategy, which includes the expansion of its oilseed crushing and transshipment capacities as well as the addition of other value-added processing of vegetable oils and by-products. FMO and DCP will also work with Allseeds to enhance corporate governance and improve the company’s environmental and social standards.
According to an Allseeds press release, "this equity investment will help position Allseeds as a leading agricultural commodities processing and transshipment hub in Yuzhny, Ukraine’s deepest port, increasing the level of in-country value-add of agricultural commodities prior to export and improving links to the largest global markets."
Diligent Capital Partners is a private equity manager focused on food and agribusiness, export-oriented businesses, and the consumer goods and services industries. DCP led the deal origination and structuring and will be responsible for the management of the investment. Prior to the transaction, DCP worked with Allseeds on establishing its corporate governance system.
Dan Pasko, DCP Co-Managing Partner, who has joined Allseeds Board of Directors, stated: "We thank Allseeds founders Vіacheslav Petryshche and Cornelis Vrins for their commitment to developing this partnership. Having followed the development of the Company since its start-up 2011 we were truly impressed with Allseeds’ progress in becoming a regional leader in agribusiness processing and logistics and look forward to contributing to future efforts to build upon their success to-date. We also thank our partners at FMO for their collaborative efforts in completing this transaction and look forward to our future work together.”
According to the Allseeds press release, "as a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a more than 45-year proven track-record of empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food & water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 9.2 billion spanning over 82 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector developments banks globally."
Viacheslav Petryshche, Allseeds CEO, said: “We are pleased that FMO and DCP have recognized our accomplishments and demonstrated their belief in our potential by making this investment. We have ambitious growth plans and are open to building partnerships to realize those goals. We also thank DCP for helping Allseeds bring its corporate governance standards to the level of international best-practices to help us attract such a reputable international investor as FMO.”
The Avellum team was led by Co-Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko with support from Associates Andriy Romanchuk, Dmytro Symbiryov, Olga Tersina, Yuliia Chelebii-Kravchenko, and Oleksandr Kulykovskyi. Avellum Associates Yaroslav Medvediev, Andrii Gumenchuk, and Uliana Lutchyn advised on antitrust matters.
The Allen & Overy team was led by London-based Counsel Gareth Irving, working with Senior Associate Michael Snook. Luxembourg-based Partner Peter Myners and Senior Associate Marc Tkatcheff assisted with Luxembourg law advice.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Baker McKenzie announced that it advised Diligent Capital Partners on the deal. According to the firm, "the transaction involved legal and tax structuring of the private equity fund vehicle to support investment in the target business as well as other future transactions." The firm's team was supervised by Kyiv Partner Viacheslav Yakymchuk and managed by Senior Associate Andrii Moskalyk and included Luxembourg Partner Catherine Martougin, Senior Associate Ali Bouhrara, and Tax Director Amar Hamouche.
