Tanoira Cassagne Abogados advises on Cresta Roja deal

Cresta Roja S.A. ("Cresta Roja") was the flagship brand of Rasic Hermanos, one of the most important names in the poultry industry in Argentina. 

At the end of December of 2015 Rasic Hermanos went into bankrupt and the company dropped on one of the most emblematic failures, destroying more than 2,800 jobs in the Province of Buenos Aires. The social and economic impact was catastrophic.

The Judge Ms Valeria Perez Casado (the "Judge") in charge of the Bankruptcy took several decisions to promote social containment of the former workers and to avoid the destruction of value of the assets of Cresta Roja. Among others, the Judge called for prospective operators of Cresta Roja. The prospective operator had to assume the investments that were necessary to re-start the production, at its own risk. If it was successful it would have the right to collect a fee, being also in the very first row to compete in the bidding process to acquire Cresta Roja as a going concern, and the first refusal right in case any other bidder made a higher offer. 

Proteinsa S.A. ("Proteinsa") was the only company that accepted the challenge. Proteinsa is a consortium made up of three leading companies belonging to the agribusiness field in Argentina: (i) Ovoprot International S.A. (ii) La Suerte Agro S.A. and (iii) Tanacorsa S.A. 

Proteinsa was not only successful in managing the re-start up of Cresta Roja but also was the winner of the international bidding process to acquire Cresta Roja assets as a going concern called by the Judge offering USD121 million. 

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. ("BTG") is financing Proteinsa in the acquisition process of Cresta Roja. BTG Pactual granted a Stand By Letter of Credit in favor of local banks Banco Supervielle S.A. and BACS Banco de Crédito and Securitización S.A. as Lenders and Banco Hipotecario S.A. as Lender and Administrative Agent, which, in turn, granted a Syndicated Loan to Proteinsa.

Such Loan was granted by a pledge over the shares of the members of the consortium, pledge over the trademarks, pledge over the machinery, personal guarantees and mortgages on the land.

Throughout this process, Proteinsa was fully advised by Tanoira Cassagne Abogados by a multidisciplinary team led by its Partner Alejandro Ciero and with the assistance of the Of Counsel Osvaldo Garriga and Partner Rafael Algorta in issues of bankruptcy litigation and corporate matters, Partner Alexia Rosenthal in Finance and Capital Markets matters, Partner Bernardo Cassagne on Regulatory issues and Partner Pablo Mastromarino in Labour matters, together with their respective teams.

BTG Pactual was assisted by Estudio Beccar Varela by Partners Tomás Allende, Pablo Torretta, Martín Gastaldi and Maria Shakespear together with their respective teams.

The local banks under the Syndicated Loan were advised by Errecondo González Funes by Partner Facundo Goslino.