Reported Late Tuesday Feb. 28, Lavoro And TPB Acquisition Corporation I Announce Completion Of Business Combination; Lavoro Ordinary Shares Expected To Begin Trading On Nasdaq On March 1, 2023 Under Ticker Symbols "LVRO"
Lavoro ordinary shares and warrants expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on March 1, 2023 under ticker symbols "LVRO" and "LVROW", respectively
Gross proceeds of approximately $134.4 million expected to fund Lavoro's investment activities and growth initiatives
Upon listing, Lavoro to be the first US-listed pure-play Latin American agricultural inputs retailer
Lavoro Limited ("Lavoro" or the "Company"), the largest agricultural inputs retailer in Brazil, and TPB Acquisition Corporation I ("TPB Acquisition Corp." or "TPBA") (NASDAQ:TPBA, TPBAW, TPBAU))))), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by The Production Board ("TPB"), today announced the completion of their previously announced business combination (the "Business Combination"). The Business Combination was approved at an extraordinary meeting of TPBA shareholders on February 22, 2023, and closed on February 28, 2023.
The ordinary shares and warrants of the combined company, Lavoro Limited, are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market ("Nasdaq") under the ticker symbols "LVRO" and "LVROW", respectively, on March 1, 2023.
"The closing of this transaction and our forthcoming listing on the Nasdaq is a major milestone for our entire Lavoro team," commented Ruy Cunha, Chief Executive Officer of Lavoro. "We are thrilled to enter this next phase of growth as a publicly traded company, as we believe we are uniquely positioned to expand our footprint throughout Latin America and continue our mission to address food insecurity and empower farmers by creating greater access to innovative agricultural solutions."
"We believe Lavoro is in an ideal position to improve global food security while reducing the land, water and energy footprint of our crops," said David Friedberg, Founder of TPBA. "We are immensely proud to have played a role in helping bring this important agriculture company to the public markets. We look forward to continuing to work together alongside Lavoro to help them achieve their growth objectives and realize the margin enhancement opportunity that we believe is inherent in this business."
The combined company will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Ruy Cunha alongside the rest of the current Lavoro management team. Lavoro's Board of Directors comprises 7 directors, Marcos de Mello Mattos Haaland, Ricardo Leonel Scavazza, Daniel Fisberg, David Friedberg, Michael Stern, Lauren StClair and Eduardo Daher. The Board's three independent directors include Michael Stern, Lauren StClair and Eduardo Daher.
Latin America's Leading Independent Agricultural Inputs Retailer – a Scaled, Profitable, and Growing Business
Through the acquisition of over 20 small- and medium-sized companies, São Paulo-based Lavoro has quickly become Brazil's largest agricultural inputs retailer by revenue and market share. Lavoro's geographical presence also extends to Colombia, Peru, Chile and Uruguay.
The Company offers farmers a comprehensive portfolio of agriculture input products including seed, fertilizer, crop protection, emerging biologics and other specialty products. Lavoro's 924 technical sales representatives have met with more than 60,000 customers on farms and at 193 retail locations multiple times per year to help them plan, purchase the right inputs, and manage their farming operations to optimize outcomes.
Lavoro's vertically-integrated crop inputs business, "Crop Care," is a major supplier of biologics and specialty fertilizers in Brazil. Operating at the forefront of agriculture technology, we believe the Company's portfolio of proprietary biologics helps to enable farmers to protect their crops from disease, pests, and weeds without the carbon and environmental persistence of traditional synthetic crop chemistry – while helping to improve soil health and productivity, lowering the need for synthetic fertilizers.
Demonstrating the strength of its acquisitions and organic growth playbook, Lavoro successfully acquired and integrated 24 businesses, and generated R$8.2 billion in pro forma revenue in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 alone and R$151.3 million in pro forma net income in the same period. Lavoro grew its revenue by a CAGR of 69% between fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2022, including a 23% and 14% year-over-year organic growth in fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, respectively. At the same time, Lavoro believes it has also achieved robust organic growth through retail and product portfolio expansion, as well as operational improvements.
Transaction Overview
As a result of the transaction, Lavoro has received approximately $134.4 million in gross proceeds, including the contribution of $100 million that TPB has invested through a private placement at $10.00 per share.
Lavoro plans to use the gross proceeds for investment activities and growth initiatives, including:
- organic expansion of its retail footprint with new stores;
- acquisitions of additional agricultural retail and input companies;
- introduction of new sustainable products and technological services; and
- expansion of operations throughout Latin America.
Advisors
Barclays Capital Inc., Canaccord Genuity LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated served as capital markets advisors to TPB Acquisition Corp. Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to TPB Acquisition Corp., Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal advisor to Lavoro, and White & Case LLP acted as legal counsel to the capital markets advisors.