Supporting investment into an agro-processing project

Kosta Legal has successfully advised Uzbekistan’s largest investment fund, Uzbek-Oman Investment Company, on making a USD 85 million investment into a greenfield agro-processing project.

This was one of the largest investments in the agricultural industry in Uzbekistan. The project implied the establishment of a company that would engage in the construction of a large production facility for processing agricultural products for further export. The project was complicated by our client’s strict internal investment policies providing for, for example, the necessity to device effective exit strategies in case a company’s performance is unsatisfactory. Our task included legal due diligence on the client’s partners and provision of transaction support covering the preparation of the relevant investment agreement, the registration of an operating company, the preparation of share-purchase and surety agreements as well as the monitoring of CP satisfaction. The project became even more challenging when changes were introduced into the relevant legislation during the project implementation stage. The changes significantly affected the commercial side of the project, and it was necessary to reconsider terms of the client’s investment and to redraft a number of project documents.

The Uzbek-Oman Investment Company is the Uzbekistan’s largest private equity fund, established in 2009, based on an inter-governmental agreement between Uzbekistan and the Sultanate of Oman. The fund makes equity investments across all industrial sectors with some major investments made in the banking, finance, construction and FMCG sectors.