Japan’s leading general trading company Mitsui & Co has agreed to buy 28.6% of the shares in Rol-Ryż, a leading European pulses and rice distributor and subsidiary of Italian rice company Euricom. Mitsui will acquire the stake through a special purpose vehicle in the Netherlands for an undisclosed amount. Clifford Chance advised Mitsui & Co while Poland law firm Wardyński & Partners, in co-operation with Jones Day, acted as legal advisers to Euricom.
Tokyo-based partner Natsuko Sugihara led the Clifford Chance team with the support of multijurisdictional teams. In Tokyo, counsel Masafumi Shikakura, senior associate Shunsuke Nagae, and associates Yuki Hoshinaga and Stephanie Ohira assisted with the deal. The Warsaw team comprised of partner Wojciech Polz, counsel Karol Kulhawik, legal adviser Aleksandra Właszczuk and advocate trainee Michał Beściak. The Milan team consisted of counsel Francesca Casini, associate Shirin Niazi and trainee Sara Bettoni. Counsel Evert van der Kaa in Amsterdam advised on the Dutch aspects of the deal.
The Wardyński & Partners team in Warsaw was led by partners Bartosz Kuraś and Anna Dąbrowska.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. Through this investment, Mitsui plans to accelerate its worldwide trading operations and business infrastructure in a wide range of food resources and products, increase sales routes across Europe and Asia, and improve global dietary lifestyles.
