Squire Patton Boggs has advised CEE consumer-focused private equity firm Resource Partners on its acquisition of a 70% stake in Polish cosmetics company Torf Corporation. Weil Gotshal & Manges advised selling Torf CEO Wojciech Piasecki and Director General Ryszard Guminski on the deal, which remains subject to standard regulatory approvals.
REEEP II will acquire 70% of Torf's shares in the buyout, which marks the first buyout from the GP's newest fund, Resource Eastern European Equity Partners II (REEEP II), which launched in 2016 and held a first close on EUR 100 million in late-December. Piasecki and Guminski will retain the balance. The duo will also remain in their positions and continue management of the business.
Torf was founded by Polish-American Barbara Piasecka-Johnson, an heir to a Johnson & Johnson co-founder, and Professor Stanislaw Tolpa. According to Resource Partners co-founder Malgorzata Bobrowska-Jarzabek “the Johnson & Johnson connection had made Torf a well-recognized brand in Poland [and] the company had been on Resource Partners' radar for some time, partly as a result of it. Where the family had not been ready to dispose of its controlling stake in the business before, once an exit process was initiated, Resource Partners joined the bidding.”
According to Squire Patton Boggs, "Resource Partners is one of the most active private equity investors in Central and Eastern Europe, specializing in consumer goods. Resource Partners manages funds provided by leading international financial institutions such as: Rabobank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Fund, and ARDIAN. The deal was the first transaction led by Malgorzata Bobrowska-Jarzabek in her new capacity as partner. She was part of Resource Partners' founding team and had been an investment director before her promotion. Prior to joining Resource Partners, she was an associate at The Carlyle Group."
The Squire Patton Boggs team acting for Resource on the acquisition was led by Partner Michal Karwacki, who commented that "it was great to assist one of the most experienced PE teams on the Polish market in that challenging transaction regarding very attractive target. Many thanks to Resource for their trust in us." Karwacki was supported by and included Partner Marcin Wnukowski, Of Counsel Pawel Magierowski, and Associates Katarzyna Witkowska-Pertkiewicz, Hubert Binkiewicz, Aleksandra Drozdz, and Rafal Kozerski.
The Weil Gotshal Manges team was led by Partner Piotr Tomaszewski and included Senior Associate Jacek Balicki and Associate Aleksandra Dobrzynska-Grezel.
