We re not talking about
rocket science, here.
Essentially, its about
encouraging people
to work together 9
Vopak
Simon Parker
Simon Parker:
The Client
The Deal
the areas of tax, accounting, liquidity or capital. Resolving these
problems is never straightforward and often means long and
intense discussions. Often the solution is very important to the
company, which entails having access to the CEO, the CFO and
occasionally even the non-executive board. So talking about
these type of issues is an excellent tooi to increase your access
to the cliënt and, ultimately, increase your income. Deals are a lot
more profïtable than normal lending transaction because clients
are happy to pay for a solution to a problem. We cannot solve
everything, but our analysis and ideas are always appreciated/'a
With a heritage going back almost
four centuries, Vopak is the world's
largest providerof conditioned storage
facilities for bulk liquids. Whether
it's liquid or gaseous chemicals, oil
products, petrochemicals, biofuels,
vegetable oils or liquefied natural gas
(LNG) Vopak offers complete storage
and trans-shipment solutions at 80
terminals in 31 countries, covering
and connecting the world's major
shipping lanes. Vopak offers more
storage capacity than any other
independent tank terminal operator
in the world.
Last year, Vopak and Rabobank
engaged in a strategie dialogue over
their ideas about the upcoming finan-
cing of a newly constructed terminal
for the storage of vital oil reserves of
European countries. The initial size of
the total investment is EUR 100 million
and this will be increased to several
hundred million euros upon the success-
ful closure of this first tranche.
GCS (Global Client Solutions) joined
forces with REIF (the Renewable Energy
Infrastructure Finance department)
and the Senior Relationship Banker to
present the cliënt with an integrated
financing solution. The team was able to
convince Vopak that the complexity
of the business case (parties involved,
political involvement, lease rentals,
project financing, IFRS treatment -
including future changes, off balance
sheet financing etc.) required a separate
advisory role. Vopak awarded Rabobank
this mandate after appreciating the
integrated approach, in which Rabobank
paid due attention to all relevant
aspects in a comprehensible and no-
nonsense fashion. The mandate in-
cluded a role as sole Financial Advisor
and as sole Equity Arranger.
After the ultimate co-investor was
selected, and the terms of the co-
investor's involvement were agreed,
REIF smoothly took over leadership
of the project. Having worked on the
financial model for the project and
advised Vopak on the potential terms
and conditions for the debt financing,
REIF was well positioned to lead the
process of integrating the lenders.
ISSUE 26 JAN!
RI WORLD
