Siaka MOMOH
Olam International Limited, a leading agri-business operating across the value chain in 65 countries, announced over the weekend that it has secured a five-year term loan of A$350 million for its Australian subsidiaries Olam Orchards Australia Pty Ltd and Olam Australia Pty Ltd.
Proceeds from the facility will be applied towards refinancing of existing debt and meeting working capital and general corporate funding requirements of the Company.
The Company has appointed Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Singapore Branch, DBS Bank Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch, ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch, National Australia Bank Limited and Westpac Banking Corporation, as mandated lead arrangers for the Facility.
Olam’s Executive Director of Finance and Business Development, A.Shekhar said: “We are pleased to announce the signing of this facility and would like to thank our banking partners for their continued support. This transaction is a part of our ongoing efforts to diversify our debt portfolio across tenors and currency.”
Olam International is a leading agri-business operating across the value chain in 65 countries, supplying various products across 16 platforms to over 13,800 customers worldwide. From a direct presence with sourcing and processing in most major producing countries, Olam has built a global leadership position in many of its businesses. Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the SGX-ST on February 11, 2005, Olam is a component stock in the Straits Times Index (STI), S&P Agribusiness Index and the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. Olam is the only Singapore firm to be named in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 Forbes Asia Fabulous 50, an annual list of 50 big-cap and most profitable firms in the region. It is also the first and only Singapore company to be named in the 2009 lists for the Global Top Companies for Leaders and the Top Companies for Leaders in the Asia Pacific region by Hewitt Associates, the RBL Group and Fortune.
Olam has a robust presence in the agribusiness sector of the Nigerian economy.