Business Development Asia was awarded the 2014 Transaction of the Year – Large Company Award by the TMA (Turnaround Management Association) for its work for AgFeed. The transaction involved the divestiture, in bankruptcy, of AgFeed Industries’ U.S. and China operations in two separate deals, together valued at $114 million.

BDA acted as exclusive financial advisor on the China divestiture process. BDA Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor on the sale of AgFeed USA. In both sale processes, BDA identified and approached the optimal buyers, working closely with AgFeed’s restructuring advisor, Mackinac Partners.

BDA orchestrated the successful sales of:
1. AgFeed’s US operations to affiliates of Tri Oak Foods and Smithfield Murphy Brown
2. AgFeed’s China operations to Ningbo Tech Bank

The proceeds enabled full recovery for AgFeed’s creditors.

Euan Rellie, senior managing director at BDA, said, “We’re pleased to receive this award for our role in a complex, cross-border transaction, realizing significant value for stakeholders. We appreciated the opportunity to work alongside excellent professionals including the teams at Mackinac, Foley & Lardner, and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, to secure the best future owners of these leading agribusiness assets.”

Justine Mannering, managing director at BDA, added, “We believe that the sale of AgFeed’s China operations was the first ever acquisition by a Chinese company of the Chinese assets of a U.S. Chapter 11 debtor. We’ve seen strong interest from Asian buyers in distressed transactions over the past two years. This growing trend will benefit US investors.”

The success and complexity of the transactions has earned recognition from financial media analysts and industry associations. These transactions led to three awards from The M&A Advisor, including International M&A Deal of the Year, Agriculture Deal of the Year, and §363 Sale of the Year.