In addition, FrieslandCampina has successfully placed a private loan of $196m and €25m with institutional investors in the US and Europe.
FrieslandCampina has reached agreement with all 14 banks taking part in a €1bn revolving credit facility to improve the facility’s conditions by lowering the interest mark-up and extending the term. The term of the facility has been extended by one year until the end of August 2013. The size of the facility remains unchanged at €1bn. The adjustment could be realised on the strength of the developments in the market and the company’s improved creditworthiness profile.
FrieslandCampina has placed a private loan of $196m with institutional investors in the US and €25m with a European investor. These senior notes have a term of seven or 10 years and are intended to replace short-term debts with banks by long-term debt. The loan was placed in the US, where the company was able to negotiate better financial terms than in the Netherlands.
FrieslandCampina chief financial officer Kees Gielen said: “We’re satisfied with the improvement and broadening of our financing. The adjustment of the revolving credit facility conditions will yield an annual saving of several millions of euros. The placement of the senior notes was successful thanks to our strong international position in the markets for dairy products and the fact that we’re already known to many US investors. We’re able to convert short-term bank loans into long-term loans on favourable conditions. By tapping into the US capital market, we have placed our financing on a broader base.”
In 2003, FrieslandCampina (then operating as Friesland Foods) successfully placed senior notes of $213m and €20m in the same market. Part of this loan is due to mature in December 2010.
The shares of FrieslandCampina are held by the dairy cooperative Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina UA. The 15,300 member companies of this cooperative are thus the owners and the company’s most important providers of equity.
Source: FrieslandCampina
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