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Minters and Allens act on Primo deal
Minter Ellison acted for the private equity majority owners of a local company, and Allens for the Australian arm of a Brazilian raider on the largest domestic private equity transaction for 2014.
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Deal: JBS S.A purchase the Primo Smallgoods Group, which was majority owned by the private equity consortium Affinity Equity Partners
Value: $1.45 billion
Area: Private equity
Key Players: Minters’ team was led by Martin Bennett (pictured), the head of Minters private equity team. He was supported by a host of partners, including Paul Schoff and Ricky Casali. Assistance was also provided by senior associate Jacqueline How and lawyers Simon Ayling, Damian Petrovic and Eric White. Senior Sydney-based Allens partners Richard Kriedemann and John Beckinsale led their respective teams, with Brisbane partner Geoff Rankin, senior associate Michael Scarf and associate Amit Jois also involved. “The sale is an outstanding result for Affinity, the founder Paul Lederer, and the management team and we would like to congratulate all of them on the transaction,” said Bennett
Deal Significance: Primo Smallgoods was founded in Sydney with 38 employees in 1985 by the Lederer family. The firm now has more than 4,000 employees nationwide and produces a range of meat-based products, with Affinity taking a controlling stake in 2011. Paul Lederer is the Primo Group chairman. This transaction saw JBA Australia, the nation’s largest domestic meat processing company, add to its stable of interests and that of its parent company, Brazil’s JBS S.A. The transaction is still subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
