LNZ Group has closed the purchase transaction of 100% participatory interest in Shpola-Agro Industry LLC that controls, together with its affiliated companies, the land bank of about 8.5 thousand hectares and agricultural assets, including real estate and machinery. The transaction has been negotiated since November 2017.

LNZ Group is a modern diversified agro-industrial company uniting 33 farm businesses in Cherkasy and Sumy Regions and ranked among the top ten most fast-growing companies operating in the seed sector. Due to this transaction, LNZ Group has increased its land bank up to 70 thousand hectares of land in Ukraine, enabling this group to come closer to the top 20 biggest domestic agricultural producers.

Vasil Kisil & Partners acted as legal counsel to LNZ Group on this transaction. Our lawyers assisted to structure the transaction, drafted SPA along with the transaction-related security agreements and other documents related to the transaction, ensured opening of the escrow account, obtained merger clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and supported closing of the transaction. E&Y team acted as counsel to the seller on the transaction.

"Vasil Kisil & Partners directly participated in all crucial stages of execution and performance of the purchase transaction of 100% participatory interest in Shpola-Agro Industry LLC: negotiations, documents drafting, registration of ownership title; and elaborated a mechanism to protect and enshrine our interests in SPA. The firm experts ensured that the transaction complied with the competition law and supported the prompt obtaining of the merger clearance to the transaction from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. Due to cooperation with Vasil Kisil & Partners, we managed to minimize potential risks and achieved the desired result. We do believe that this indeed is the key feature of professionalism and proficiency of legal support," said Dmytro Kravchenko, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, LNZ Group.

In turn, Volodymyr Igonin, who headed Vasil Kisil & Partners' team, notes that "transactions in the agricultural sector are, as a rule, rather fast-moving. The business must be checked and adequately evaluated and then prepared for transfer and re-registered in a short time in view of natural processes. Such deadlines may not be postponed with the parties' consent. Therefore, the legal support of agribusiness acquisition is always an intense and responsible work. As it is often the case, the success mostly depends on interaction between various teams involved in the project."

Vasil Kisil & Partners' project team included Volodymyr Igonin, head and partner of corporate/M&A practice, Anna Sisetska, head and partner of antitrust & competition practice, and associates Taisiia Asadchykh and Mykola Boichuk.

Vasil Kisil & Partners Acted as Legal Advisor to LNZ Group on the Purchase Transaction of 100% Participatory Interest in Shpola-Agro Industry LLC