Item 1.01 | Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement |
On August 28, 2024, Agriculture & Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”), entered into that certain Business Combination Agreement, as defined and described below, and certain other agreements related thereto, each as described below.
Business Combination Agreement
On August 28, 2024, the Company, Agriculture & Natural Solutions Company Limited ACN 680 144 085, an Australian unlisted public company limited by shares and affiliated with Sponsor (as defined below) (“NewCo”), Merino Merger Sub 1 Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned subsidiary of NewCo (“Merger Sub 1”), Merino Merger Sub 2 Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned subsidiary of NewCo (“Merger Sub 2”), Raymond T. Dalio, in his capacity as Trustee of the Raymond T. Dalio Revocable Trust (“Dalio”), Bell Group Holdings Pty Limited ACN 004 845 710, an Australian private company (“Bell Group” and together with Dalio, the “Sellers”), Australian Food & Agriculture Company Limited ACN 005 858 293, an Australian unlisted public company limited by shares (“AFA”), and, solely with respect to Section 2.07 of the Business Combination Agreement, Agriculture & Natural Solutions Acquisition Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (“Sponsor”), entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement,” and the transactions contemplated thereby, the “Business Combination”), pursuant to which, among other things and subject to the terms and conditions contained therein, (a) NewCo Ordinary Shares (as defined below) will be issued to those Sellers who have elected to participate in the Contributions (as defined below), (b) Merger Sub 1 will merge with and into the Company (the “First Merger”), with the Company surviving the First Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of NewCo (the “First Surviving Corporation”) and each holder of warrants (“Company Warrants”) to purchase the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share (“Class A Ordinary Shares”), and Company Ordinary Shares (as defined below) will receive in exchange for such Company Warrants and Company Ordinary Shares an equal number of warrants (“NewCo Warrants”) to purchase fully paid ordinary shares in the capital of NewCo (“NewCo Ordinary Shares”) and NewCo Ordinary Shares, respectively, (c) immediately following the First Merger and as part of the same overall transaction as the First Merger, unless Sponsor determines not to undertake the Second Merger (as defined below) in accordance with Section 2.07 of the Business Combination Agreement, the First Surviving Corporation will merge with and into Merger Sub 2 (the “Second Merger” and, together with the First Merger, the “Mergers”), with Merger Sub 2 surviving the Second Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of NewCo (the “Second Surviving Corporation”), (d) immediately following the Second Merger (or the First Merger if Sponsor determines not to undertake the Second Merger in accordance with Section 2.07 of the Business Combination Agreement), if so elected by the Sellers by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the date that is two (2) business days following the clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) of the Registration Statement (as defined below), the Sellers will transfer some or all of their shares of AFA to NewCo in exchange for a number of NewCo Ordinary Shares they received prior to the First Merger (valued at US$10.72 per share) equal to their pro rata share of the portion of the Company Equity Value (defined as A$780,000,000 minus AFA’s net debt calculated in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement) attributable to the total number of shares of AFA elected to be so transferred (the “Contributions”), and (e) immediately following the Contributions, AFA will buy back any shares of AFA not owned by NewCo following the Contributions (“Outstanding Company Shares”) for an amount of cash equal to the Sellers’ pro rata share of the portion of the Company Equity Value attributable to the total number of Outstanding Company Shares, in accordance with the Buy Back Agreement (as defined below) (the “Company Redemption”).
Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., Australia Branch (the “Lender”), a related entity of the current lender under AFA’s existing credit facilities, has delivered to NewCo an executed commitment letter (the “Debt Commitment Letter”) pursuant to which the Lender has committed to lend A$200,000,000 to NewCo at the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing” and, the date on which the Closing occurs, the “Closing Date”) to refinance AFA’s existing credit facilities and fund a portion of the Company Redemption.
AFA is a large-scale, diversified agricultural business established by the late Colin Bell in 1993 with the acquisition of the historic ‘Burrabogie’ station. AFA now operates one of the largest agricultural portfolios in New South Wales, Australia consisting of three major freehold title land aggregations within the Deniliquin, Hay and Coonamble districts, which total approximately 550,000 acres, and a water portfolio of approximately 45,000 acre-feet. AFA’s portfolio includes some of Australia’s most iconic properties, including ‘Boonoke’, ‘Burrabogie’,
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