BrazilM&A experts help Rabo Investments close Esro Food deal
The investment wing of Rabobank has acquired a minority stake in meat manufacturer Esro Food Group. Meet the dealmakers that brought the two parties together and led the transaction to a successful closing.
Last week, Rabo Investments announced that it has bought an undisclosed minority share from the Rooijackers and Fayman families, joint owners of Esro Food Group.
“Esro Food Group is a unique family business with an impressive position in a global niche. We look forward to accelerating the international growth of the company in the coming years, together with management and current shareholders,” said Jan Droste, Managing Director at Rabo Investments.
Esro Food Group offers a wide range of products in the field of beef, pork, chicken and lamb with concepts for the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries. The group has approximately 300 people working from offices in the Netherlands, Belgium Ireland, and Spain.
For Rabo Investments, which has an asset portfolio of €1.8 billion in the food & agri, healthcare and sustainability sectors, the deal is the third this year, following the investments in food processor Selo Food Group and horticultural business Koppert Cress Group.
The firm’s deal team for the Esro Food Group transaction was led by inhouse Rabobank dealmakers Anders Rasmussen and Nick Kopijn. The bank received externa advice from Eden McCallum (commercial due diligence), Alvarez & Marsal (financial due diligence), DLA Piper (legal support), JSA Tax Consultancy (tax advisory), Nielen Schuman (debt advisory), and DLA Piper (acquisition financing).
At the other side of the table, Esro Food Group was supported by Deloitte (M&A advisory and financial due diligence), and Lexence (legal support).
Investment agenda
With the financial capital from Rabo Investments, Esro Food Group aims to “accelerate the international roll-out of its distribution network and expand its operations,” said directors Eamonn Morgan and Joris Rooijackers in a joint statement. They have the ambition to “in the coming years” double the company’s revenue to around €250 million.
The construction of a new production facilities in Spain and the United States are part of the investment agenda.
Simultaneously, the family business aims to play a frontrunning role in sustainability, both by greening its own operations as well as by providing more sustainable products to its customers.
Droste said: “Esro Food Group plays an important role in the transformation of the food production system towards more sustainable operations, through the valorisation of by-products and residual streams. By increasing the circularity of the supply chain, Esro Food Group responds to key trends in the food & agri sector, which are in line with Rabobank's strategic ambitions in ‘Feeding the world sustainably’.”
