Long-term
dedication to
ERIKS
pays off
COOPERATION PAYS OFF
Samer Mansour and
Erik Vos - Senior
Relationship Banking.
Els Kamphof, Jalmar Locht-
man and Philip de Groot -
Credit Loans.
Bart Timmer, Léontine
Hijmans, Eric-Jan Post and
Piet Hein Knook - Rabo
Securities, Equity
Capital Markets.
Rieks Smook and Roderick
Kam Loan Syndication.
ERIKS group is an innovative distributor of
mechanical engineering products and serv
ices for various industries. Rabobank has been
ERIKS' main financing bank for a number of
years, and has led both the equity and debt
financing raised earlier this year for ERIKS'
acquisition of WYKO.
'When ERIKS fïrst became a cliënt, its financing
needs were limited and potential side-business
didn't look very appealing,' says Erik Vos of the
ERIKS deal team. 'But we've always shown a
genuine interest in the company, and spoke to
ERIKS about their future plans and their interest
in certain large acquisitions.We wanted to give
a presentation about their borrowing capacity.'
Before Rabobank could give the presentation,
ERIKS'treasurer called and asked for a meeting.
On Wednesday, the treasurer explained ERIKS'
interest in acquiring a British company. At the
time, ERIKS didn't have any presence in the
UK. The transaction would immediately make
ERIKS the European market leader. The treas
urer wanted Rabobank to provide a bridging
facility of 220 million to finance it. He needed
an answer the next day. Financing of this size
often takes longer, but Rabobank presented a
total financing proposition on Friday.
Bridging the gap
Rabobank not only provided a proposal for a
bridge facility, but also a total financing pack-
age including the take-out of the bridge facility
by an equity issue and a syndicated loan.
'The following Monday, ERIKS called and said
they were impressed with our proposal, ac-
cepted our indicative offer and asked for a
firm offer,' Vos says. 'Two months later, the
commitment for the bridge facility was in
place and, exactly one month later, ERIKS was
able to draw down.'
The subsequent equity issue, for which Rabo
Securities was sole Global Coördinator and
Bookrunner, was well received in the market
and highly oversubscribed. Rabo Securities
organised an intensive roadshow,visiting more
than 100 institutional investors. The offering
and its huge demand mean ERIKS enjoys a
more international and wider spread investor
base, suiting its international profile. The debt
issue, for which Rabobank was Lead Arranger,
was successfully syndicated. Total commit-
ments of the syndicate banks were higher than
expected. This enabled Rabobank to increase
the size of the transaction from 200 to 250
million at ERIKS'request.
This deal isn't only special because of the total
financing package Rabobank offered, but also
because so many teams worked together to
make it all happen. This transaction shows
that long-term dedication and belief in clients
will pay off.
The Word 17
