IT Update
EAL OF THE MONTH
WHAT'S NEWS Issue 8 August 1996
short news
15
Through close cooperation within London Branch and the
international M&A network, the bank has been able to give
value added advice to the Yorkshire Food Group (YFG)
during a period of fundamental change.
Cripps - networking
to add value.
YFG, a major domestic and
international supplier of
processed fruit, nuts and
natural sugars, is a quoted
company on the UK stock
exchange.
During the last
three years,
London's
corporate
banking has
built a position
fes the number
two relationship
bank to the
Group out of the
original five
bank core
lending group.
Talking about
how London
Branch originally became
aware of the possible
opportunity to advise YFG on
their disposal plans, London's
head of F&A corporate
banking team, Ben Davies,
says: 'We worked hard at
building a regular dialogue
with the Group and during a
meeting in late 1994 we learnt
Miat they were thinking of
Kantoor
Londen
heeft door
snel en alert
te reageren de Yorkshire
Food Group (YFG)
geassisteerd hij de verkoop
van onderdelen die niet bij
de nieuwe strategie pasten.
Het Europese netwerk werd
ingeschakeld voor het
vinden van een potentiële
koper voor deze af te stoten
onderdelen. YFG's merchant
bank werd van haar plaats
gestoten en Londen's M&A
team was in staat haar
expertise te bewijzen.
.Dankzij deze deal mocht
'Londen samen met NatWest
ook een herfinanciering ad
USDlOOmln. verzorgen.
refocusing their business
operations from the UK to the
US, where there is considerably
greater profit potential in
supplying value added
ingredients to
both the retail
and industrial
customer.' Davies
quickly arranged
for John Cripps,
head of M&A in
London, to join
him on a visit to
the Group's UK
facilities and a
meeting with the
finance director.
The M&A team
in London then
kept in touch
with the Group, proposing
ideas in parallel with the
original banking
relationship.
In mid-1995, the
Group decided to
press ahead with
their plans and
Davies contacted
Cripps, who
interruped his
vacation to
discuss with the
Group this major
project, the
possible
commercial and
financial advantages and risks
of selling all the Group's UK
businesses to relocate to the US
and how Rabobank could
assist in the process. As the
Group is listed and any
premature leak to the public
would have seriously affected
share price, the discussions
were kept secret.
During subsequent meetings,
the Group was persuaded that
Rabobank could really provide
added value in the disposal
process due to its knowledge of
potential domestic and
international buyers, its
international M&A network
and the professionalism of those
Davies
involved. Initially, London
Branch was appointed to advise
on specific aspects of the project
alongside the Group's merchant
bank but this mandate
gradually widened to cover all
the M&A aspects of the UK
disposal program as the Group's
trust in Rabobank's financial
advisory skills and the people
involved increased. The
principal business being sold,
the Group's UK Home Baking
Division, was ultimately
acquired for GBP20 million by
a UK private equity investor
group backing the management.
'What really surprised and
pleased the cliënt,' says John
Cripps, 'was our ability to
work together as a real cross
border M&A team whilst
providing expert domestic
advice. Just to give you one
example: for one meeting, the
heads of all our European
M&A teams flew into London
and presented jointly to the
cliënt on certain aspect of the
deal - clients remember this
level of service for a long time.'
Ben Davies adds: 'We obtained
significan cross-
selling
opportunities
from our
involvement in
the project. YGF
was obliged to
refinance its
USD100 million
banking
facilities which
we co-led with
NatWest. In
addition, the
project has
helped strengthen our
relationship with the Group at
a time when it has rearranged
many of its existing
arrangements in the US. Our
San francisco office now has
close contact with the Group.'
looking aheadT
Rabobank's International IT
Project has taken several
positive steps in support of its
mission, which is'to define and
implement a common
Standard of operational
excellence across the
Rabobank International branch
network and to support the
business goals of both head
office and local branches'.
The International IT Project
leadership is undertaking an
international road show to
internally explain and answer
questions about the strategie IT
initiative. Among the first
foreign branches to be visited
have been Antwerp.Warsaw,
Dublin, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Madrid, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt,
and New York.
Stream Managers and Team
Leaders working within each
stream have defined team
member roles Many of the
teams are now staffed;
however, a number of
vacancies remain.Meanwhile,
each team is simultaneously
formulating detailed project
plans intended to feed into the
overall program goals.
One team is working in
London branch to perform a
business review:it will study
the existing system, identify
new requirements.and make
recommendations for the
detailed implementation.
Another team is working in
the Budapest office to identify
its business requirements.The
resulting model may be used as
a template or Standard to be
used in other future new
branch'start-up'situations.
September
2-8
16
16-18
18-20
World Poultry Congress, New Delhi, India
Intermopro '96, Dusseldorf, Germany
F&A account managers meeting, Utrecht
Trade finance account managers meeting,
Utrecht
Study The world cotton market
