AVELLUM advises Yarych Group on minority stake buy-out and related Norfund financing

AVELLUM acted as legal counsel to Yarych Group, one of Ukraine’s leading confectionery businesses, in connection with two transactions: the acquisition of the minority stake held by Horizon Capital and the cross-border debt financing arrangements involving the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (“Norfund”) in the amount of USD10 million.

The transaction marks the successful completion of Horizon Capital’s investment in Yarych Group and enables the founder to consolidate full ownership of the business, while securing institutional financing to support the group’s further development.

AVELLUM provided comprehensive end-to-end legal support throughout both workstreams, advising on the equity buy-out, financing arrangements, transaction structuring, tax, merger control and completion mechanics, and negotiating the relevant transaction documents. The project involved a number of complex legal, regulatory and structural issues, including the acquisition of Horizon Capital’s stake, cross-border financing documentation, tax structuring, obtaining merger control clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, and comprehensive legal support through signing and completion.

The participation of Norfund, a Nordic institutional lender, adds a strong international dimension to the transaction and serves as an important marker of continued confidence of international institutional capital in resilient Ukrainian businesses and their long-term growth potential.

“This transaction is a strong example of how ambitious Ukrainian businesses can execute sophisticated buy-outs and attract institutional international financing even in a challenging market environment. We are pleased to have supported Yarych Group on a transaction that combined M&A, financing, tax structuring and regulatory workstreams, and ultimately helped the founder consolidate ownership of the business and position it for further growth,” comments Andriy Romanchuk, Partner at AVELLUM.

AVELLUM worked alongside with Soul Partners, which acted as financial advisor to Yarych Group.

M&A aspects of the transaction were led by partner Andriy Romanchuk and counsel Oleksandr Volodin with support from associate Olha Rudevych. The financing aspects of the transaction were led by senior partner Glib Bondar with support from of-counsel Yurii Krasnoliudskiy and associate Nikita Tipikin-Holovko. Tax matters were led by partner Vadim Medvedev with support from senior associate Anna Sokur and associate Kateryna Omelchuk. Merger control aspects were led by partner Mykyta Nota with support from counsel Anton Arkhypov and associates Veronika Humeniuk and Uliana Verbitska.