JB's weekly round up - 01 September 2014
Happy birthday us! It feels like only yesterday that we officially launched TXFnews.com. Over 1000 stories later and we have reached our first milestone.
Welcome to the weekly round-up of the TXF news service
That was the week that was
TXF News is one year old…
Happy birthday us! It feels like only yesterday that we officially launched TXFnews.com.Over 1000 stories later and we have reached our first milestone.
There has been a fair share of blood, sweat and tears, a lot of laughs, and a great deal of fun. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to be able to report on an industry that makes such a telling contribution to long-term, sustainable economic growth, and possesses so many wonderful and talented people.
Thank you for your continued support and faith in us. As we continue to build and grow, we aim to provide a service that is genuinely useful to you, and encourages knowledge-sharing across a vital and inspiring sector.
Remember, TXF News, tagmydeals and the weekly news bulletin are all free of charge, so tell your friends!
Free webinar this Thursday, 4th September – “Export finance in 2019 and beyond”
TXF will be joining up with David Godfrey, CEO of UK Export Finance, Deutsche Bank’s Simon Sayer, Alex Taylor of Citi, and new Berne Union secretary general Kai Preugschat for a filmed discussion on the future of export finance.
The webinar will start at 11am UK time / 6am NY / 6pm HK and will look at trends in pricing, regulation, the capital markets, product innovation, and how the product is viewed by customers and providers alike. It promises to be a lively and informative discussion.
Register for free here
TMD FEATURED DEAL: Ukraine’s Kernel finalises loans for vital working capital funds
In exceptional market circumstances, ING and UniCredit last week jointly coordinated a $320 million pre-export finance (PXF) facility for the Ukrainian agri-producer and processing group Kernel Holding. Full details of the transaction can be found below.
In talking to the bankers involved in the $320 million deal, what is abundantly clear is just how little support the banks had from the private insurance market. Have you all pulled out? We would love to hear your side of the story – so do drop us a line and tell us what you are open for in Ukraine, if anything!
| Borrower | Kernel Holding |
| Deal Volume | $ 320m |
| Deal Type | Commodity Trade Finance (all) |
| Sector | Revolving credit facility |
| Industry | Edible Oils |
| Tenor | 1 yr |
| Financial Close | 22/08/2014 |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Account Bank | UniCredit |
| Book runner | ING Bank, UniCredit |
| Documentation agent | ING Bank |
| Lenders | Arab Bank, Banque de Commerce et de Placements, Citi, Natixis, rab Bank |
| MLA | BNP Paribas, ING Bank, Rabobank, UniCredit |
| Lenders | Ticket size |
| Arab Bank | $25m |
| Banque de Commerce et de Placements | $10m |
| BNP Paribas | $40m |
| Citi | $10m |
| ING Bank | $90m |
| Natixis | $25m |
| Rabobank | $30m |
| UniCredit | $90m |
Also, see the news item as this contains detail of another two Kernel loans which took place just a couple of weeks before this.
So, look who has set up shop in Nairobi!
Ok, so everybody talks about setting up shop somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, but few actually do. So congratulations to Rabobank, which has just set up Rabo Kenya. And guess who is running the shop? Yep – it’s ‘Mr Hands-on’ himself – Jan de Laat, with his new title of chief commercial officer. With his solid experience, the bank’s new outfit is in extremely good hands. Jan tells me that things have gone really well so far with several good deals under the belt including several in the energy products sector as well some agri-deals. See the news report for more detail.
One of the interesting things about this set-up is that Rabo did a considerable amount of testing the water before setting up shop. This was done, in part, with roadshows in several cities where key bankers got to meet potentially new, key clients.
HSBC names Apac chief of staff
Out in Asia, HSBC has appointed Andy Grisdale as its new chief of staff for commercial banking. Andy will oversee the development of the bank’s strategic and operational initiatives across the commercial banking division, as well as develop its commercial banking strategy across the region. See who he replaces here.
Mercuria secures first yen facility
So it seems Mercuria’s close association with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) is reaping a range of rewards for the commodity trader – this time in securing a good-sized Japanese yen loan and expanding its borrowing base into the Japanese market.
In this deal, the trader signed a ¥15 billion ($144 million), three year, senior unsecured, syndicated term loan on 28 August, 2014. The transaction was led and arranged by BTMU. A number of other Japanese financial institutions participated in the facility, including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, with additional investors set to join the facility at a later date.Read more about the deal and Mercuria here.
International Forfaiting Association annual conference
Trade finance for Africa, sanctions in Russia! Join the International Forfaiting Association’s 41st Annual Conference in Barcelona from 10-12 September 2014 to know what is happening.
Dr Benedict Oramah, executive vice president, Afreximbank and Simon Cook of Sullivan & Worcester and Christian Karam of Africa Trade Ltd will discuss the development of new trade frontiers in Africa. Grant Eldred of Thomas Cooper will
speak about the impact on sanctions with Russia and the experience in Iran. Other new speakers lined up include Nigel Houghton of the Loan Market Association who will speak on The Role of the Agent in Financing.
To register for the conference please click here
BNY Mellon signs trade pact with Helaba and Sparkassen
BNY Mellon has signed a trade processing partnership with Helaba (Landesbank Hessen-Thürigen) and the G25, a group representing the 25 largest Sparkassen in Germany. The deal will help boost trade between the German Mittelstand and Asia-Pacific (Apac). The partnership offers the opportunity for Helaba and the Sparkassen to enhance their presence in the fastest growing region in the world, which, in turn, will help drive new trade flows and German export growth. It looks a good arrangement for all. See more on the set-up here.
Under the arrangement, BNY Mellon will promote the partners’ brands in Apac via BNY Mellon’s correspondent banking network, and in return, Helaba and the Sparkassen will route letters of credit from German importers via BNY Mellon’s branch network.
XZERES closes financing with Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo continues to finance some interesting companies involved in overseas trade in the US. In this deal signed last week the bank signed a $15 million loan agreement with Oregon-headquartered XZERES Corporation, a global clean energy solutions company.See full loan details here.
The company also arranged further funding of $4.9 million in transactions involving existing investors. The financing will be used as working capital by the company, and to support export sales to a range of countries and regions. The report contains detail of the overseas markets where XZERES is making sales and has projects.
US Ex-Im secures first US wind turbine exports to Peru
It might be a difficult time for US Ex-Im at present in having to fight its corner for reauthorisation, but the agency is still hard at work securing export sales in territory the commercial banks are not willing to go. In this latest deal, Us Ex-Im has come up with a two direct loans to two wind power projects in Peru for the export of wind turbines manufactured in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Fort Madison, Iowa, by Siemens Energy Incorporated.
The financing amounts to almost $65 million in total, and represents US Ex-Im’s first renewable-energy transactions in Peru. Read more on the deal here.
Anyway, let me just repeat this for all those numb-skulls that don’t quite understand what this means and would prefer to see US Ex-Im sent to planet Zardoz. This is financing for Siemens in the good old US of A, not Germany. It means equipment manufactured in Kansas and Iowa and not just by Siemens but many sub-contractors also. It means export revenues for the US. It is a loan being provided, not aid! It will be repaid. Simple as that.
And finally……
There are a lot of changes taking place in the direction, and method of oil and gas sales from Russia – and much of this has been spurred on by Western sanctions against the country. One of the latest moves, it would appear, is that Gazprom Neft, is now making sales of crude oil in rubles and renminbi (RMB). It is understood that Gazprom Neft recently exported 80,000 tons of oil to Europe from the Novoportovskoye field in the Arctic; taking payment in rubles. The company is also poised to deliver oil via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO) to China, taking payment in RMB.
My, how things change! And, of course, this does not only apply to Gazprom Neft, a number of other large Russian energy companies have discussed this issue with the Kremlin. It would appear that it is a big thumbs-up from there. In addition to this, Russia has started the 4,000 km (2,500 mile) Power of Siberia pipeline, being built by state-controlled Gazprom to export gas to China.
The project is estimated to cost in the region of $21 billion in its initial phase taking in the Chayanda field. Exports to China through this route will begin in 2019 and China is set to buy up to $400 billion worth of gas over a 30-year period. These are significant developments, and we can expect much more to come as Moscow moves the goalposts like only Moscow can.
That’s all folks.
Cheers,
JB
