On 5 September 2023 Farmgate, a Dutch owned farming group being one of the biggest grains and oil seeds producer in Khmelnytsk region, transferred 95% share in its Ukrainian business to A’SPIK Group, Ukrainian top 5 sugar company. Farmgate Ukraine together with its subsidiaries controls the land bank exceeding 6 thousand hectares and other agricultural assets, including real property, machinery and livestock. The transaction has been negotiated since November 2022 with definitive agreement being signed yet in March 2023. Overall deal will be closed early in 2024 upon harvesting and sale of 2023 crops and subsequent transfer of remainder share and assets.
Vasil Kisil & Partners acted as a sole legal counsel to Farmgate on this transaction including tax and corporate structuring of the deal, drafting and negotiating full set of acquisition documents, merger clearance and advice on withdrawing investment from Ukraine. The deal structure provided for graduate transfer of 100% share in Farmgate Ukraine and, under separate agreements, transfer of certain business assets, including privately owned land, and operations during 2022 – 2023 harvesting year. The parties' interests during the interim period were designated to be balanced by the shareholders' agreement and irrevocable power of attorney to be kept in escrow.
Vasil Kisil & Partners’ transaction team included Alexander Borodkin, partner, and Roman Yemets, associate, advising on corporate, land, tax, financing and other transaction matters, as well as Anna Sisetska, partner, and Yevhenii Senchenko, associate, assisting with obtaining merger clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and advising on other compliance matters.
For more details please contact Olga Shevchenko, PR Manager
Tel.: +380 67 358 47 82
E-mail: shevchenko@vkp.ua
About the Firm
Established in 1992, Vasil Kisil & Partners is a Ukrainian law firm that delivers integrated legal advice in banking & finance, mergers & acquisitions, capital markets, antitrust, competition and trade, dispute resolution, public advocacy, tax law, energy and natural resources law, intellectual property law, labor and employment law, real estate and construction law, as well as PPP, concessions and infrastructure law. Vasil Kisil & Partners is a member and exclusively represents Ukraine in such international professional associations as TerraLex (160 law firms in 100 countries), Cathay Associates (40 high-profile law firms with over 500 headcount worldwide in 43 major cities and countries across Europe and Asia) and Ius Laboris (1700 labor and employment lawyers in 50 countries). Andriy Stelmashchuk is a managing partner of Vasil Kisil & Partners law firm.
