Cuatrecasas counsels Partners Group on Rovensa acquisition

Cuatrecasas has counselled Partners Group on the acquisition of a majority stake in Rovensa

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has on behalf of its clients agreed to acquire a majority equity stake in Rovensa (formerly known as Sapec Agro Business), a leading provider of speciality crop nutrition, biocontrol and protection products, from Bridgepoint, a major international Private Equity group. The transaction values Rovensa at an enterprise value of around €1 billion.

Rovensa’s portfolio of agricultural solutions and technologies helps farmers to enhance crop yields and provide food security. Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Portugal, the company has three divisions: BioNutrition, which provides agricultural crops with nutrients for growth and healthy development; Crop Protection, which eliminates or prevents biological threats in crops; and BioControl, which offers products based on biological inputs, such as plant extracts and micro-organisms. Rovensa specializes in formulating sustainable products which reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, combat its contribution to climate change and support the cultivation of healthy food. Its products are sold in more than 70 countries and generate an annual revenue of approximately €360 million.

In providing legal advice to Partners Group, Cuatrecasas worked alongside the North American Global law firm Ropes & Gray LLP. Cuatrecasas’ advisory, which involved the Lisbon, Madrid and Valencia offices, was coordinated by Lisbon M&A partner Mariana Norton dos Reis and included M&A associates Francisco Martins Caetano, João von Funcke, and Ana Álvarez, with a wide team of partners and associates in the areas of Public and Regulatory, Banking and Finance, Intellectual Property, Labor, Tax, Real Estate, Litigation and Competition, who included Public and Regulatory partners Duarte Abecasis and Maria José Guillén, and Banking and Finance partners Manuel Requicha Ferreira and Agustín Cerdá. The Ropes & Gray team was led by Private Equity partners John Newton and Kiran Sharma, from the London office.