NNDKP

successfully assisted AAylex Group, one of the

leading Romanian players in the food industry, controlled by

entrepreneur Bogdan Stanca as majority shareholder, in securing the

funds necessary for the Group’s expansion in Romania through the

acquisition of Banvit Foods Romania.

The AAylex Group, having former
enterprise Avicola Buzau as its starting point, covers various
operations ranging from genetics, feed production, breeding, incubation,
 broiler chicken farming to slaughtering and the distribution of
processed chicken meat and value-added chicken meat products, under the
Cocorico brand name. The acquisition of Banvit Foods, one of the leading
 producers of feed and “day old chicks” in Romania, will enable AAylex
to optimise the operations of the Group through vertical integration of
its activities “from farm to fork”.

NNDKP assisted AAylex in
connection with two separate components, which were handled
concurrently. The first component entailed securing the financing, and
the second one implementing the transaction for the acquisition of full
ownership of Banvit Foods.

The financing of approximately EUR 20
million was granted in the form of a syndicated loan by CEC Bank and
EximBank. In addition to funding the acquisition of an ownership
interest in Banvit Foods, AAylex will use the loan to finance the
day-to-day operations of the group of companies.

The assistance
provided in connection with the acquisition of Banvit Foods entailed
structuring the documents of the transaction, negotiating them with the
shareholders of Banvit Foods, offering support in order to fulfil the
conditions precedent agreed upon by the parties for the purposes of the
transaction, and also taking all necessary actions in the closing stage
of the transaction. Furthermore, NNDKP assisted AAylex before the
Competition Council with a view to obtaining a favourable decision in
relation to the concentration resulting from this acquisition.

The
 NNDKP team assisting AAylex was coordinated by Valentin Voinescu,
partner (Banking and Finance Practice), Razvan Vlad, partner
(Corporate/M&A) and Georgeta Dinu, partner (Competition), and
included Alexandru Ciambur and Catalina Dan, associates (Banking and
Finance), Vlad Anghel, associate (Corporate/M&A) and Alexandru
Sotropa, associate (Competition).

“This
acquisition is of strategic importance for AAylex Group and represents
the successful culmination of the extensive efforts made in the last 5
years. We are confident that the acquisition will generate added value
in the following years, both from an internal and external perspective,
while we will continue to offer a premium quality experience to Cocorico
 clients”, stated Cristian Barbulescu, Deputy CEO of AAylex Group.

“We
 are pleased to have been able to successfully assist the AAylex Group, a
 leading local player in the food industry, in connection with its
expansion plans. The transaction reconfirms that the agri-food sector is
 a flagship component of the Romanian economy, having significant growth
 potential, and we are honoured that our team could support the efforts
of visionary and business-savvy Romanian entrepreneurs”, said Valentin Voinescu, partner in the Banking and Finance practice.

“The
 transaction concluded between AAylex and Banvit Foods supports the
efforts of further consolidating the production and supply chain of the
conglomerate run by Bogdan Stanca, in a fiercely competitive industry.
We are proud to be able to play a part in this complex process – with
ramifications also in terms of innovation and technology – which follows
 a long-term strategy”, said Razvan Vlad, partner in the Corporate/M&A practice.

The
 NNDKP Banking & Finance team is constantly involved in complex
projects concerning corporate finance, project finance, acquisitions of
financial institutions and international and local companies, or public
sector finance. Over the last three years alone, the members of the team
 were involved in financing transactions amounting to more than EUR 3.5
billion in sectors such as agribusiness, energy, real estate,
infrastructure, FMCG, production or technology.

NNDKP’s Corporate
and M&A practice has set benchmarks for over 30 years by advising on
 some of the most sophisticated high-profile transactions on the
Romanian market. Currently, a 22-lawyer team, one of the largest teams
of M&A specialists on the local market, NNDKP’s lawyers were
involved during the past 12 months alone in more than 35 noteworthy
M&A deals, both domestic and cross-border.

NNDKP’s Competition
 team is a market leader in Romania. The practice has a constant and
robust portfolio of competition projects, including investigations,
merger clearance projects, compliance projects, as well as court cases,
where our representation often resulted in the reduction of the fines
applied.