deals
Strategie relationship
Uni-President Enterprises Group
Successful take off
What's NewS Issue I January/February 2000 I 5
Early this year, our Buenos Aires
office closed a ground breaking
syndication deal for Quilmes, a leading
Argentinean brewer with a 70% market
share, which is quoted on the NYSE
and in Luxembourg. Quilmes has been
expanding its brevving interests in
South America, and also rccently won
the Argentinean Pepsi franchise through
its acquisition of BAESA. A company
with 30% of the local soft drinks
market, BAESA had fallen into finaneial
difficultics under its previous owners.
To complete its acquisition, Quilmes
needed rapid access to financing at a
time when Argentina was in the midst
of a politica! transition. Known for its
conservative financing strategics, the
company turned for the first time to the
international capital markets, choosing
the most reliable banking partners it
could find. Rabobank delivered an
underwriting commitment of USD 50
million within the context of a USD
170 million syndication that included
Chase and BBV. Rabobank was original
arranger and administrative agent in this
deal and an active participant in the
syndication process. As a result of
oversubscription, the value was
increased by 15% to USD 200 million.
Many of the participants - which
included BNE, Llovds, Wachovia, Tokyo
Mitsubishi, and Dai-Ichi Kangyo - have
not been active syndicate participants
during the past two years in Argentina.
Thus, the deal may signal a renewed
interest in the country and region as a
whole, which is significant aftcr the
prolonged period of uncertainty. By
participating in this deal, our first of its
kind in Argentina, we not only gained
attractive fees but also established a new
strategie relationship with an important
player on the South American F&A
market, Quilmes, plus valuable market
exposure with other finaneial institutions
together with further experience in
coordinating transactions of this type.
DLL was also in the news recently
with its 10 year aircraft lease for
a USD 22.5 million corporate jet for
ACGO Corporation, a global manufac-
turer and distributor of agricultural
equipment. DLL placed the lease with
Heet National Bank, a DLL business
partner in the company's bank
outsourcing group. This was DLL's first
such deal in the US and, according to
Paul Janson, director of structured
finance and the prime mover behind the
project, 'we were able to draw on our
broad base of relationships to bring a
valued partner the best possible finaneial
solution to a business need. We were
able to leverage our position with Fleet
to get AGCO the best rate.' Discussions
began in earnest in mid 1999. The only
caveats were that the deal had to be
completed by 31 December so that
AGCO could enjoy the lowest possible
lease payments. AGCO's executives also
wanted the plane available to fly to a
meeting in Mexico City on 3 January.
Despite protracted negotiations, DLL
completed the deal by the December
deadline, and was able to gain an
accclerated fly order from the US
Federal Aviation Administration that
enabled AGCO to take the aircraft out
of the country on the desired date.
Commenting on the arrangements, Bill
Nix, vice president and treasurer of
AGCO, said: 'The deal was handled
very professionally, we got a good rate
and we were very satisfied.' From Fleet's
perspective, Ben Viverito, managing
director of Indirect Originations, said:
'This was a good exantplc of teamwork
on the part of De Lage Landen and
Fleet. We have every expectation of
building and expanding our relationship,
and we're looking at sonte unique
opportunities to work together in large
ticket deals and crossborder
transactions.' DLL's capital markets
group provides specialized funding
products to meet the needs of its clients.
Transactions completed to date cover a
broad range of assets, including grain
barges, intermodal containers, medical
equipment, large computer installations
and aircraft.
Rabobank Taipei recently joined forces with Hong Kong's corporate finance team to
lead, arrange and close a five year USD 80 million syndication loan for Cayman
President Holdings Ltd. and Hong Kong President Holdings Ltd., both subsidiaries of
the Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, Taiwan's leading food conglomerate. In its
doniestic sectors, most of its products are market leaders. Uni-President has recently
diversified its activitics globally, with interests in food processing through marketing
and distribution down to the rctail level. This latest deal was designed to help Uni-
President support its strategie ambitions, and the fact that it was 2S0% oversubscribcd,
that it attracted the active participation of a 14 strong syndicate of geographically
diverse international banks, and that its value was increased from the originally envis-
aged USD 50 million are
all indicative of the market
confidence in the group's
future development.
Joint team - (left to right)
Bernice Liu, Barbara Kuo,
Josephine Chiu, Brian But,
May Wong Tung, Uni-
President's Chung Sheng Lin,
Ruurd Weulen Kronenberg,
Richard Lee, and Emily Sun.
