BUCHAREST – Sale of A&D Pharma – the 45th deal closed by RTPR Allen & Overy’s M&A team in the last 4 years

RTPR Allen & Overy has advised the shareholders of A&D Pharma on the multijurisdictional sale of the group to the pharmacy network Dr. Max owned by Penta Investments. The transaction which was signed at the end of last year was closed in Amsterdam last Thursday.

The RTPR Allen & Overy team involved in this project was coordinated by Costin Tărăcilă (Managing Partner) assisted by Alina Stăvaru (Counsel). The team further included Roxana Ionescu (Counsel), Andreea Burtoiu (Counsel), Andrei Mihul (Managing Associate), Andreea Chiriac (Associate) Mihnea Radu (Junior Associate) and Lia Ilie (Junior Associate), as well as teams from Allen & Overy’s Amsterdam, Prague and Milan offices.

Costin Taracila declared: “We are happy to have successfully closed this deal, once again one of the largest M&A transactions on the market, for sure the largest in the pharma sector in 2017. The satisfaction felt when such a project is closed is even bigger when the clients are happy and we know we did our best to represent their interests as much as possible. We are honoured to have advised A&D Pharma’s shareholders in this transaction and we are looking forward to new challenges. I would also like to congratulate and thank all our colleagues who worked on this deal for their involvement, as well as to thank the financial advisers Raluca Niță and Radu Stoicoviciu.”

“It was an exceptional project, the peak of a cooperation throughout a decade in which we were together with the A&D Pharma group and we wrote pages of history in multiple local and regional acquisitions, sales, de-listing from the London Stock Exchange, share buyback programs, financing arrangements, litigation proceedings and other special projects. We are honoured and proud that we contributed to the successful closing of this transaction. We would like to thank once again to the shareholders of A&D Pharma for putting their trust in us for this very important transaction in the Romanian pharma market, but also throughout all the important moments of the group’s history.”, Alina Stăvaru declared.

RTPR Allen &Overy’s Corporate/M&A team is recognised as one of the best in the country and is frequently involved in the most interesting transactions on the market. The most prestigious international legal directories, Legal 500, Chambers and IFLR1000 rank our mergers and acquisitions practice on the top tier, recognising the value of our lawyers who are appreciated by clients and peers as well and are considered market leaders in the field.

During the last few years we noticed a trend in high-value M&A transactions, over 20% of the total number of deals on which the RTPR Allen & Overy team advised were over EUR 100 million. Among these we can mention:

- Societatea Energetică Electrica S.A. on the acquisition of the minority stakes held by Fondul Proprietatea in the company’s energy distribution and supply subsidiaries

- DS Smith Plc group in relation to the acquisition of EcoPack and EcoPaper, two major producers of packaging and paper products on the Romanian market

- Enterprise Investors in relation to the sale of Profi supermarket chain to Mid Europa Partners, in the largest deal ever completed by a private equity fund in Romania and the largest deal in the retail sector in the country’s history

- Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. on the acquisition of Ursus Brewery, one of the largest beer producers in Romania, in a huge deal in which Asahi group purchased the SAB Miller businesses in the region from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

- Allianz Capital Partners on the acquisition of a 30% stake in E.ON Distributie Romania, the largest electricity and gas distribution network operator in the northern part of Romania. This is the largest transaction in Romania in the energy sector in the last years.

- The private equity fund PAI partners, owner of R&R Ice Cream on its joint venture with Nestlé to form a new entity now known as Froneri.

- Advent International Corporation on the sale by it and by the Enayati Family (the original founders of the business) of Centrul Medical Unirea (the healthcare services provider “Regina Maria”) to Mid Europa Partners

- DE Master Blenders 1753 on the merger with Mondelez International

- Facebook on the acquisition of the LiveRail group

- Eni, an Italian multinational oil and gas company, on the sale of its downstream assets in the CEE region to MOL