Canadian food and regenerative ingredients company Above Food has completed its previously announced merger with Bite Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), to become a publicly traded company.
In May this year, Above Food and Bite signed a definitive merger agreement which values the Canadian food company at a pro forma enterprise value of around $319m.
Under the terms of the deal, the consideration was transferred in the form of rollover shares.
The merger was closed after receiving approval at a special meeting of Above Food shareholders on 7 June 2024, and a special meeting of Bite’s stockholders on 29 April 2024.
With the closing, the common shares and warrants of the combined company, Above Food Ingredients (New Above Food), will start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq).
New Above Food will continue to be led by CEO Lionel Kambeitz alongside the rest of the current Above Food management team.
Its Board of Directors will comprise Lionel Kambeitz, Jason Zhao, Felipe Gómez, Garth Fredrickson, Alberto Ardura González, Chief Reginald Bellerose, and Agustin Tristan Aldave.
Above Food Ingredients founder, CEO, and executive chairman Lionel Kambeitz said: “The completion of our business combination marks a major step forward in our vision to drive transformative change across the entire food value chain.
“Our unique seed-to-fork platform brings together regenerative agriculture, value-added ingredients manufacturing, and consumer products into one differentiated solution to tackle the host of growing challenges that are pressuring food security globally.”
Above Food is a vertically integrated, plant-based ingredient and food company focused on regenerative agriculture and sustainable food technologies.
The company delivers nutritious food ingredients with traceability and sustainability, and margin enhancement that comes from maintaining oversight across the entire production value chain.
It leverages vertically integrated sourcing, traceability systems and supply chain to enable a platform that supports a synergistic portfolio of ingredients and consumer products.
Above Food is ready to capitalise on the market opportunity that is being supported by powerful secular trends around plant-based foods, supply chain traceability, and sustainable practices.
It is well-positioned to leverage its vertically integrated model to drive attractive margins and generate shareholder value, said the Canadian food company.
EarlyBirdCapital served as financial advisor and capital markets advisor to Bite, while Centurion One Capital served as financial advisor and capital markets advisor to Above Food.
Also, Latham & Watkins and Gowling WLG (Canada) served as legal counsel to Above Food, while Greenberg Traurig served as legal counsel to Bite.
Bite former chairman and CEO Alberto Ardura said: “We are pleased to have played a role in bringing this industry-leading, differentiated food company to the public markets where it can continue to execute its compelling growth strategy and create significant value for all of its stakeholders.
“We look forward to continuing to work alongside the Above Food team to help them achieve their growth objectives and deliver the substantial margin expansion we believe is inherent in this business to drive sustainable free cash flow.”
