'global, knowledge, partner'
Albaugh Inc., CFO, Todd Figley:
Thomas Hasenauer
Achieving full control
Keeping promises
Winning combination
Joint efforts
'Rabobank has impressed me with the depth of the
organization and the industry knowledge their employ
ees possess. It is great to have this level of understanding
and commitment to the agricultural arena in our banking
partner.'
'Rl is strong in terms of international presence, industry
knowledge and agricultural focus, while weaker on cash
management and convenience of branches.'
Based in Ankeny, lowa, in mid-western USA, Dennis Albaugh
founded Albaugh Inc. to buy labels and develop a distribution
channel for off-patent crop-protection chemicals. Today, Albaugh
Inc. is the largest privately held off-patent crop-protection formu-
lator and packager in the US, supplying crop-protection chemicals
to farmers through wholesalers and retailers across the region.
When the Rl team met with Dennis Albaugh the first time,
Albaugh Inc. owned 65% of Atanor, a basic chemical manufactur-
er in Argentina. The remaining 35%, which Dennis Albaugh
intended to buy, was trading on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.
With the support of Rl in Chicago, Ignacio Kleiman of the M&A
team in New York, Alejandro Reca of the Food and Agribusiness
Research (FAR) team in New York, and Santiago Martignone of
Rabobank Argentina, the team devised a strategy to allow
Albaugh not only to buy the 35% and take the company private,
but also to finance the acquisition. In December 2003, Albaugh
Inc. conducted a successful public tender offer for the outstand-
ing shares, giving Albaugh Inc. full control over Atanor. By July
2004, Rl will also have supported Albaugh Inc. in de-listing the
Atanor shares, the final step in taking the company private.
The relationship with Albaugh Inc. is unique. 'As an international
and cross-functional team, we have demonstrated our under
standing of the Brazilian and Argentinean crop-protection
chemicals market, in addition to the Argentinean capital market.
Moreover, through our insight into global trends in critical crops
like soybeans and corn, into the interplay between biotech and
crop-protection and into the emerging requirements of the
farmers, we place ourselves well above local competition. Where
others (including ABN Amro) have failed in the very difficult
Argentinean debt market, we delivered the "International" in
Rabobank International. We did what we promised to do, and as
we continue to deliver, I think this relationship will deepen even
further,' says Levasseur. Levasseur recently joined Rabobank's
'country banking' effort at Rabo AgServices, after turning over the
Albaugh relationship to Thomas Hasenauer, Relationship
Manager, Rl Chicago, at the end of 2003.
'It is really unique to see how quickly we have been able to move
up in the pecking order with regards to Albaugh and the other
local banks. The next step is to become the lead bank for Albaugh
Inc's US credit facility,' Hasenauer continues.
'As Albaugh Inc. continues to grow in Latin America and we
continue to work fora cliënt of this nature, our local network
and knowledge of Latin America is critical, in addition to our
global industry knowledge and understanding of risks the cliënt
is facing,' says Hasenauer. 'The willingness to roll up our sleeves in
an organized way to recommend and deliver solutions that add
value to the cliënt, is also a great asset of the bank. Access to our
research capabilities certainly also supports Albaugh Inc. when
addressing future trends and entering negotiations against tough
competition such as Dow Chemical or Monsanto,' Levasseur adds.
'In the future we may want to spend more time understanding
how we can improve the co-ordination between offices across
regions and make sure we are aware of, and able to capitalize on,
every relevant opportunity in each market where we operate.
Generally speaking however, the teamwork across regions has
been outstanding,' Levasseur sums up.
The Word 17
