Pinheiro Neto advises on Vicat’s Brazil expansion
Brazilian law firm Pinheiro Neto advised the Brazilian subsidiary of French cement company Vicat on its purchase of a 65 per cent stake in Brazilian company Cimento Planalto (Ciplan) from the Atalla family, in a deal valued at around 1.29 billion reais ($339.2 million).
Funds from the capital increase will be used to settle a vast majority of Ciplan’s existing debt. The transaction will be debt-funded, and its closing is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions set forth in the investment agreement.
Ciplan operates a cement production plant near Brasilia (pictured), producing 3.2 million tonnes per year, in addition to nine ready-mixed concrete plants and five aggregates quarries.
“With this acquisition, Vicat pursues its targeted external growth and geographical diversification strategy, through its incursion into a new emerging market benefiting from strong growth perspectives,” Vicat said in a press release.
“In order to fully capture the Brazilian market’s growth potential, Vicat will leverage a performing industrial asset base, coupled with strong brand awareness, abundant quarry reserves and a solid competitive position in its local markets.”
The French company already has cement production operations in ten countries, including Egypt, India, Switzerland, Turkey and the US.
Pinheiro Neto partner Antonio José Mattos Morello led the firm’s counsel to Vicat, and was assisted by senior associate Joamir Müller Romiti Alves and associates Camila Otani Nishi and Élcio Aulicinio Borges.
In a separate transaction, Pinheiro Neto also advised US-based global private equity firm HIG Capital on the acquisition of Brazilian automotive filters manufacturer Sofape Fabricante de Filtros (Tecfil) for an undisclosed sum.
Tecfil operates the largest filter manufacturing facility in Latin America, serving virtually all light and heavy-duty vehicles in Brazil under its two brands, Tecfil and Vox. Tecfil also exports to 27 countries, in Latin America, North America and Europe.
HIG Capital has more than $27 billion of equity capital under management and is based in Miami, with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta, and international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Bogotá and Mexico City.
Pinheiro Neto’s team was made up of partners Henry Sztutman and Eduardo Paoliello, as well as senior associate Cauê Rezende Myanaki, and junior associates Daniel Fernandes Kulcsar and Luiza Baltazar Scotini.
