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Sumitomo acquires Nufarm for $1.19bn
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Sumitomo on the $1.19 billion purchase of Nufarm.
Naomi Neilson
Firm: Norton Rose Fulbright (Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited)
Value: $1.19 billion.
Area: M&A.
Key players: The deal was led by partner and head of NRF’s Japan Desk in London Chris Viner and M&A partner Adam Edelman. Silvia Fazio, partner in the NRF Sao Paolo office, coordinated due diligence in South America while George Gibson, head of Tokyo, provided local support.
Special counsel Simon Meagher and senior associate Andrew Clarke also assisted.
Deal significance: A cross-border team from NRF advised Sumitomo on the purchase of Nufarm’s crop protection business in Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Chile. The deal is valued at $1.19 billion and includes a two-year supply agreement and a transitional service agreement.
Sumitomo was attracted to Nufarm’s strong distribution network in South America and expected the agreement to provide additional value to shareholders. The deal requires shareholder and regulatory approvals before it is completed.
Mr Viner said: “This was a great opportunity to work ‘hand in glove’ with Sumitomo Chemical’s legal team in Tokyo. It was terrific to pull such a complex deal together with our colleagues in Sumitomo in the short timescale demanded by the stock exchange sensitives for both groups.
“The international team spanned the time zones through Australia, Japan, Europe to South America; it was great to see previous deal cooperation between the teams paying dividends.”
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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