Deals of note
Well defended
COLOURING THE WORLD
NeM/si
short news
If 2002 seems a long way off,
then think again. If you are
planning the world's top
horticultural exhibition, then
your garden needs time and
resources to grow. And that is
exactly what Rabobank is
doing for Floriade 2002. We
will be investing between NLG
6 and 9 million in the greatest
flower show on earth as main
sponsor until June 2003.
The Floriade, which is held
every 10 years, represents a
unique promotional platform
for Dutch and international
horticulture, which enjoys a
dominant international
position and wants to keep it
that way. The crème de la
crème of Dutch growing
expertise will be on show
along with innovations for the
industry. Work was started on
the site back in 1995, so the
whole event will have been
more than seven years in the
growing when the Floriade
opens. The 'colour your world
show' is expected to attract
over three million visitors, of
whom at least 200,000 will be
professionals from around the
world.
Rabobank has been involved in
the Floriade since its
inauguration back in 1960 and
for this event is joined by sister
companies De Lage Landen and
Interpolis in the sponsoring
effort. As part of our ongoing
commitment to a flourishing
horticultural sector in the
bank's home market, Rabobank
case you have corporate clients
who might be interested to
participate you can contact
Marketing RI (tel. +31 30 216
2804). We'Il keep you on track
with developments as they
come in.
Ifyou'd like to know more
about Floriade 2002,
check out the web site on
<http://www.floriade.nl>.
will also be promoting the event
through its own channels.
Although it may seem
somewhat premature, this is
not only an event that may be
of interest to customers in the
business. It may be different
from the Vermeer exhibition
that was so hugely successful
for us, but this will certainly be
a top event that many of your
clients will be interested in. In
Floriade: a
colourful!
promotional
platform.
deals
In our 'also ran' section, we could not pass over the great deal closed by
Rabobank Antwerp and De Lage Landen in Dublin. Great teamwork resulted in
cross-border lease transactions for three Thalys highspeed trains valued at BEF
4 billion.The cliënt is the Belgian National Railway Company (NMBS/SNCB) as
lessee and an Irish institutional investor as lessor.
As Belgium's sole provider of
domestic rail services and
infrastructure, NMBS/SNCB is
responsible for high priority
transport policies,such as
development of the high
speed train system linking
Belgium into the new
European network that has
already begun to revolutionize
surface travel. Among Belgian
enterprises, NMBS/SNCB has
the largest investment budget
and is the country's second
largest employer. In order to
fulfill its hugefunding needs in
a timely and cost-effective way,
NMBS/SNCB has made the
push towards
commercialization, mixing
private and public sector
sources of cash and using
capital markets and cross
border leasing to fund rolling
stock. Since 1994, the railway
has contracted more than USD
3 billion of financing of which
more than half through cross
border leasing.The
outstanding leases amount to
more than USD 2.5 billion.
NMBS/SNCB has closed deals
out of Austria, Canada, Ireland,
Japan, France,Germany,
Sweden and the US. It favours
lease financing over
borrowing. Net present values
benefits on cross-border leases
range from between 5 and 15
percent with basis-point
savings up to 125 below BIBOR.
RI in Antwerp first presented
the concept of an Irish lease
structure to NMBS/SNCB in
1996. Working closely with De
Lage Landen in Dublin,
Antwerp was able to secure
the mandate awarded by
NMBS/SNCB in May last year to
arrange a structured lease for
one high speed train valued at
BEF 1.4 billion.This first
transaction was closed in mid-
September 1997.
Excellent relations on both
sides led to more business.
The professionalism and
efficiency of the
implementation of the first
lease led NMBS/SNCB to aware
two subsequent leases for
Thalys trains to our colleages
at DLL in Dublin,'says
Antwerp's Willy van den
Houdt. The three leases will be
combined with a US lease-
in/Lease-out structure and
offered as such at a very
attractive return for the
NMBS/SNCB.'
Involved in the Thalys deals
were: Jerry Smyth, Jerry
O'Keeffe, Lynda Carrol! and
Jan Frederix of DLL leasing
Ireland; and Johan Vanhulle
and Pascal Wynen of RI
Antwerp.
Utrecht branch won a prestigious mandate from
the Dutch Ministry of Defence for its
international payments traffic.This new contract
represents around 17,000 additional
transactions per year valued at NLG 1.6 billion.
Handling ministerial payments means Utrecht's
volume will increase around 10 percent.The
winning team comprises: Bart Jonkheer, Martin
Beekelaar, Jan Martijn Rap,Eric de Geus, Marcel
Onclin and Peter van der Linden of RI Utrecht
and Rabofacet's Piet Middel and Eric Willemsen.^
IFR AWARDS 1997
CANADIAN DOLLAR BOND
Rabobank
CSlOOm due 2003
The authoritative International Financing
Review has awarded RI the Canadian dollar
bond of the year prize for 1997. 'We
received the award for one of our own
issues,' says Tjeerd de Vries who was at the
ceremony. 'It was part of our normal
funding program, so not a spectacular
issue. We won the award because it proved
to be the best received and most
successful of the year in its category.'
