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Dallas - expanding up the
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FOOD CHAIN
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WHAT'S NewS Issue 7 November 1995
Like New York, the second oldest Rabobank office in the US
first focused exclusively on regional food and agribusiness
but is now moving slowly but surely into other key sectors.
Manager Bruce Baccus talks us through the Dallas
operation's prospects.
(left to right) Standing: Todd Kemme, Bruce Baccus, Kart Propst,
Dave Mathis and Scott Taylor. Seated: Gordon Arnold, Louise
Seifert, David Streeter, Niek Broeijer, Nancy Powell and Bob
Mandula. Floor: Kay Gutnp, Cbarlene Browning
Oil is the one sector Bruce Bac
cus doesn't mention as he runs
through a whole range of po-
tential growth areas in his
team's region that covers what
are known in the US as the
plains states. Lying immediat-
ely east of the Rocky Moun-
tains, these 10 states appear to
be more than enough to keep
the 17-strong Dallas team very
busy for a very long time. 'In
the US, you'11 often find spec-
ific sectors concentrated in
specific regions,' Baccus ex-
plains. 'Livestock and cattle-
feeding is very big here and in
fact, the vast majority of this
particular sector is in our geo-
graphic territory. Poultry is
another major area where we
have a lot of customers. It's a
fully integrated sector - all the
way from production to pro
cessing, distribution and mar
keting so we're heavily involv-
ed in the entire chain.'
BEEF STAKES
Perhaps surprisingly, Baccus
says the beef industry is more
fragmented and not as vert-
ically integrated. 'We're also
very active in that industry,' he
says, 'yet because it's not as in
tegrated, there are more seg-
ments in which you have to
work separately. To go hack to
cattle-feeding for a moment,
we're actually trying to devel-
op more business in the pack-
ing industry at present. It's a
very highly concentrated in
dustry, with only around three
or four major players in the
whole country, so it's fairly
tough. In spite of that, we're
putting real effort into this sec-
THE DALLAS DEAL
We asked each office for its favourite recent deal. Dallas is first up.
Says account manager David Mathis:'I think we all like the Leprino
deal.This company is one of the largest and most efficiënt producers
of mozzarella cheese in the world. It has invested in state-of-the-art
facilities which allow it to go from raw milk to finished product in one
day. A technique called individual quick freezing (IQF) means it can
ship frozen mozzarella around the world while preserving quaiity and
shelf life. Our long-term intensive calling effort resulted in establish-
ing a USD15 million uncommitted line of credit for Leprino along
with a USD5 million foreign exchange line.'
tor anyway because we want a
lot more involvement in the
whole chain.'
BROAD DEFINITION
Even more surprisingly, when
running through his food and
agri-portfolio, Baccus also
mentions retail. 'Here in the
US, we define F&A very
broadly,' he says, 'and it in-
cludes grocery chains because
to us it's all part of the same
business. What we're doing
here is trying to expand more
aggressively further up the
food chain. That means more
into the wholesale and retail
side.' While the team has
booked some success here,
Baccus explains it is a much
more competitive sector than
traditional Rabobank targets.
'This segment of the food in
dustry has been viewed as
being more of a corporate
business for other banks,' he
says. 'So our expertise niay not
be as critical as in other sectors.'
TARGET MARKETS
In line with strategy, the Dallas
team is also pushing into
health-care. 'It's one of our pri-
mary target markets on the
corporate side,' Baccus says,
'also here in the region. You
may have heard of the changes
currently taking place in this
sector in the US. As you might
imagine, there are a lot of hos-
pitals here. In fact, there's an
overcapacity. So you have to
be extremely prudent in trying
to identify and work with
those institutions which are
strong enough to survive.'
Environmental services is an
other area where Dallas is
looking for expansion. 'For a
long time, this was an industry
that was made up of a lot of
small companies. It was very
fragmented. But that is consol-
idating now and, in fact, one
of the larger companies oper-
ating here has a Dutch parent,
the Heidemij Group. Their ac-
tivities are based in Denver,
Colorado - which is in our
region. We believe this sector is
going to show increased
growth as it continues to con-
solidate. And the Dutch parent
helps. We don't have a Dutch
desk here as such - New York
tends to handle that. But all
the US operations work on
what we call Dutch/network
lines. That means we'11 do all
we can for a Dutch or any
other Rabobank cliënt any-
where in the world.'
Bruce Baccus (Vice
president/manager)
DALLAS - UITBREIDING VAN DE VOEDSELKETEN
mm In Dallas vindt met name financiering van Agribusiness Food bedrijven plaats. De regio van Bruce Baccus en zijn zeventien medewerkers
bestaat uit tien staten, waar vooral veehouderij, veevoederbedrijven en kippenfokkerijen belangrijk zijn. De hele voedselketen-industrie behoort tot
de doelgroep van het kantoor. Verrassend genoeg behoren hierin de V.S.ookde levensmiddelenketens toe. De gezondheidszorg en
milieubedrijven worden sinds enige tijd ook aktief benaderd.
