Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii has advised Banca Transilvania on a EUR 49.5 million syndicated loan to the African Industries Group financing the acquisition of Thames Farming Enterprises. Dentons advised AIG on financing and the English law-governed acquisition, with Deloitte Legal's Reff & Associates also reportedly advising on the transaction.
The syndicated financing deal was coordinated by Banca Transilvania and included OTP Bank Romania, with both banks acting as financiers.
According to Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii, the loan was used to finance the acquisition of Netherlands-based Thames Farming Enterprises, with assets including a total area of 13,700 hectares and a storage capacity of around 40,000 tons, in Calarasi County, Romania.
Founded in 1971, the African Industries Group is a private holding company with investments in Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East. The company's annual revenues are approximately USD 1.2 billion.
"Banca Transilvania is a traditional financier of Romanian agriculture, bringing vast expertise through the specialized Agribusiness segment," Banca Transilvania Executive Director of Large Corporate Clients Cosmin Calin commented. "We are happy to support, through our unionization department, the financing of one of the most important procurement transactions in agribusiness, through its size."
The Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii team included Partner Mihai Dudoiu, Managing Associate Catalin Georgescu, and Senior Associate Sergiu Negreanu.
The Dentons team was led by Partner Simon Dayes and included Managing Partner Perry Zizzi, Partner Raul Mihu, Counsels Doru Postelnicu and Maria Tomescu, and Associate Cristina Staicu.
Editor's Note: After this article was published, Reff & Associates confirmed it had advised AIG on the acquisition. The firm's team included Partner Irina Dimitriu, Senior Managing Associates Larisa Popoviciu and Diana Fejer, and Managing Associate Maria Nitulescu.
