RABOBANK UNVEILS DEAL
SUCCESS WITH KEY FRESH
PRODUCEF&ATARGET
Haluco bv
BRAZIL
ORGANISES
SUGAR
SEMINAR
TitalPriduce
I
Europe
Americas
Rabobank Ireland and Rabobank's Zuid-Holland Midden
(ZHM) member bank have completed a EUR 17.5 million
transaction (of a EUR 35 million uncommitted working
capital facility) with Haluco BV, the Dutch subsidiary
ofïotal Produce Plc, Europe's premier fresh produce
provider.
The working capital facility will be provided by
Rabobank ZHM, which, alongside Rabobank Inter
national Corporate Clients Nederland, will also manage
the local relationship with Haluco. Rabobank Ireland is
taking the credit riskthrough a risk participation agree-
ment and managing the Total Produce relationship
at the parent company level.
Barry Henry, a senior manager at Rabobank Ireland's
Corporate Banking division, said: 'Total Produce has
been a key F&A target since it split from Fyffes in
2006, and it's great to add the company to our cliënt
portfolio with a deal that's an excellent example of
cooperation within Rabobank's global network. Closing
the transaction generates excellent cross-sell opportu-
nities with Total Produce in a number of product areas
including lending, M&A and GFM, and the business
has already given the M&A team in London a search
mandate."
Rabobank Brazil recently organised a sugar seminar to get closer
to its clients and promote the bank's sector knowledge and
specialisation. Seminar speakers included Andy Duff, head of Food
Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR). Duff told participants
that he believes that global sugar production will recover partially
over the 2009/10 period, and could increase significantly in 2010/11,
owing principally to higher production in India and Brazil, pushing
the global supply/demand balance into a surplus.
Rakesh Bhartia, former member of Rabobank India, highlighted
the cyclical nature of Indian sugar production and pointed out the
tremendous potential of the country's cane producers to boost
cane production if they were offered attractive prices. He then
went on to point out that in 2010, cane prices in India rose more
than ever before, while the prices for alter-native crops remained
unchanged, sending a strong signal to growers to devote more
land to cane production. He concluded that these developments
could result in a substantial increase in Indian sugar production in
the 2010/11 cropyear.
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