Deal of the Month ^OTABLE DEALS What's NewS Issue 8 August/September 1997 info exchange 15 The cliënt: Queensland Cotton Corporation (QCC - Australia) and Anderson Clayton Corporation (ACC - US) The deal: QCC acquisition of ACC The players: Rod Campbell (Sydney), Dennis Britt (San Francisco), Adrian De Young and David Reisman (New York), Helen Crick (Sydney), Hugo Steensma, Bernie Webb (Brisbane office). 4fehe acquisition of the US company ACC by Australia's QCC should prove one of 1997's most significant deals for the global cotton industry. Rabo Australia will be co- financing the transaction and according to Sydney's senior manager corporate banking, Rod Campbell, what may prove even more significant is that 'the relationship between the two companies was certainly developed further during our World Cotton Conference last spring'. The two companies had been A look inside the production hall of the Queensland Cotton Corporation. talking for some time, but it was the conference which brought both parties together to cement the relationship and progress the deal. 'We've been marketing our financial services to Queensland Cotton over the past three years with limited opportunity,' Campbell explains. 'They have a long term relationship with a major Australian trading bank and strong performance in recent years has reduced funding requirements. However, the company was well aware of our speciality - two directors are members of Rabo Australia's F&A Advisory Board. The US acquisition was the first real opportunity for RI to look at a transaction for QCC. The financing was put to tender with at least four hanks bidding. In the end, a deal was struck with Common- DEALING IN KNOWHOW RI joined Citibank in the structuring and placement of NLG 213 million for Sira Investments, which invests in emerging market securities. The issue has already been placed with institutional investors in the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Besides considerable fee income, this transaction enhanced our experience and reputation as investment bankers. Congratulations to Robert-Jan de Clercq Zubli, Carola Oomen, Johan Jansma, Johan Lont, Rutger Brascamp, Tom van der Weijden, Theo Hendriks, Theo Visser, Haijo Dijkstra, Rob Wiesman, Kees van Dijk, Adri Meijdam, Kees Versteeg and Boris Verbeek. Both RI and member bank Nijmegen are looking at healthy cliënt relations now the St Radboud in the Dutch city has become our first customer in the academie hospital sector. Says senior account manager at RI, Luuk Hans: 'this is a 10-year project involving an investment totalling around NLG 1 billion. Besides being the first mandate from a teaching hospital, it will also strengthen our position in other health care sectors.' Congratulations to (from left to right) Luuk Hans, Bart Roelofs, C.W. Gramser, Gerke van de Heuvel, Peter de Bruin and Hans Honig. Maarten van der Kloot-Meijburg (also RI) and Cees Oerlemans of the Dutch local Rabobank Nijmegen, are missing from this picture. wealth Bank of Australia on a 50/50 basis for the total debt of USD 45 million. We will also be providing funding for QCC's working capital requirements to a value of AUD 20 million.' The acquisition will make QCC the largest ginning company in the world and give the organization a strong presence in the US where Anderson Clayton, a Rabobank San Francisco cliënt, owns and operates 34 cotton gins, two cottonseed oil mills and three cotton warehouses across Arizona and California. One direct result of the deal will be the emergence of a market leader with a year- round growing and ginning cycle, and access to a secure and reliable supply of high quality processed cotton from both the northern and southern hemispheres. 'Basically,' Campbell says, 'it will mean a more effective supply of cotton to world markets, including the lucrative Asian market which both companies currently service. What is exciting about this deal is that it underpins the importance of events such as the conference which not only brings together industry represen- tatives, but also highlights our capabilities as an international financier to F&A. That's the cliënt side. In terms of our own networking within the organization, our co-workers in San Francisco played a real role.' Clearly, this is international deal making at its best. looking ahead September 16-18 World Beer and Beverage Forum, Munich 19 Acquisitions Monthly Seminar on Food Beverage, London October 7-8 Fruit Juice Conference, Amsterdam November 18-21 VIV-Europe, Utrecht

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blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1997 | | pagina 15