Romania's RDF Arad buying chemical fertiliser producer Adidana

By Andrei Chirileasa

Romanian investment fund ROCA Investments has become the majority shareholder of local agricultural inputs distributor RDF following a share capital increase. The company’s development will continue under the same formula of shared control and partnership between the company's founder and CEO, Florin Deznan, and ROCA Investments.

RDF also announced the purchase of a 100% stake in Adidana, an important domestic distributor of chemical fertilizers. The company thus doubles its activity level and becomes a national-level player in agribusiness.

“Through this transaction, ROCA is supporting RDF, one of the most important companies in its portfolio, in performing its first M&A transaction. The scaling of the company will continue alongside Florin Deznan, who will go on coordinating the company’s executive activity,” said Alexandru Savin, Investment Manager ROCA Investments.

He added: “Adidana is a company which complements RDF both as business, and as geography, and turns it into a national-level agribusiness player. By this process, of industry-level consolidation, territorial expansion through M&A, RDF will be functioning as a holding-type company, which continues its accelerated development both through organic growth and through direct purchases of companies active in agriculture.”

“The strategic development does not end here. Over the next period, we are looking to purchase other complementary players in the agribusiness market. Our objective is to become a “one-stop service” – a complete solution for the other players in the agricultural field,” said Florin Deznan, RDF CEO.

Founded in 1993, in Arges county, Adidana started as a small family business owned by Adrian Ionescu, and is now one of the main distributors of chemical fertilizers in South-Eastern Romania, and also a relevant national player. The company’s business model is based on a platform that integrates the entire operational process - providing inputs, shipping, warehousing, distribution, consultancy for farmers. The company focuses on the following business lines: sale of solid and liquid chemical fertilizers, sale of fuel and sale of seeds and pesticides.

RDF Arad, one of the largest regional distributors of agricultural inputs and at the same time a manufacturer of agricultural products, saw the completion of EUR 5.7 million worth of investments in solutions for warehousing, technology and equipment in 2021, after having reorganized each line of business, introducing new procedures, increasing its team and subsequently increasing its turnover by over 65% in 2020, achieving an operating profit (EBITDA) of RON 4.3 million. RDF’s turnover increased by 40% in 2021.

Agriculture plays an important role in Romania’s economy. Approximately 23% of Romania's population is engaged in activities related to agriculture, as compared to the European average of 4.9%. The increasing demand on the Romanian agricultural market and the interest in investments in this field continue to place our country among the top cereal producers on a European level.

The agribusiness sector continued to have a significant contribution to Romania's GDP in 2020, and the activities of the main players had an ascending evolution. The positive results are owed to Romania’s agricultural potential, to the increase in production, as well as to investments in infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment, made during the last years by the large companies active in this sector, which have contributed to increasing productivity. However, the Romanian agribusiness sector is far from reaching its full potential, but development perspectives are favorable.