Management buyout fails at Agriterra cocoa plantation
Agriterra advised the market on Monday that, further to its announcements of 5 October 2016 and 6 January 2017, the proposed management buyout transaction of the company's Sierra Leone cocoa assets - held through equity interests in Baranca Tide Limited and West Africa Cocoa Services Limited - will not be completed as anticipated.
Agriterra LD
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16:30 01/05/24
Food Producers & Processors
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17:14 01/05/24
FTSE AIM All-Share
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16:54 01/05/24
The AIM-traded firm said as a result,the management buyout team has failed to secure the finance required to complete the transaction, and the ownership of the target companies was reverting to the Agriterra.
“The target companies have a collective current book value of approximately $0.35m and the underlying assets comprise the necessary infrastructure from which a large scale commercial cocoa plantation and trading business can be developed in Sierra Leone,” Agriterra’s board explained in a statement.
“The company will now work towards achieving maximum shareholder value from the target companies and will consider all avenues to achieve this, including - without limitation - disposal and further development.”
Agriterra said that, whilst the funds which would have been received from the management buyout would have bolstered the company's cash reserves, its head-office treasury position remained strong at approximately $2.3m.