Project Finance African Petrochemical Deal of the Year 2013
FMO funded Nigerian fertilizer project recognized as African Petrochemical Deal of the Year 2013 by Project Finance International.
Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemical Limited (“IEFCL”) is to construct and operate Nigeria’s largest fertilizer production facility at Port Harcourt in Nigeria, upon completion scheduled in 2015. The USD1.2bln fertilizer project is awarded as African Petrochemical Deal of the Year (2013) by Project Finance International (a Thomas Reuters entity). The major sponsors of the fertilizer project are a Singapore-based Indorama Corporation PTE. Ltd (“Indorama”) and its existing petrochemical company in Nigeria Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited (“IEPL”). Acquired by Indorama under a privatization scheme in 2006, IEPL was turned into a profitable company within 3 months of taking over a closed plant, serving the growing demand of plastic raw materials in Nigeria.
The total debt package of USD 800mln was provided by Development Financial Institutions (“DFIs”), local and international banks, without any ECA involvement. The lead arrangers for the project financing were IFC, Standard Chartered and Stanbic IBTC. The entire amount was split into a USD 475mln DFI tranche, a USD 135mln international bank tranche and a USD 190mln local bank tranche. In addition to IFC and FMO, the DFI tranche consists of African Development Bank, BIO from Belgium, CDC from the UK, and DEG from Germany. The DFI lenders play an important role by providing a 11-year long term funding to this green-field fertilizer project, which is scarce in Nigeria. The investment strengthens the long-term relationship between FMO and Indorama since 1990 and it also further supports FMO’s vision to create sustainable economic growth and improve people’s quality of life in the emerging markets via entrepreneurship.
LatinFinance Deal of the Year Award 2013
The LatinFinance editorial team have named the FMO’s Vicentin SAIC $100m 3-year pre-export finance facility LatinFinance’s Trade Finance Deal of the Year 2013. The Deals of the Year Awards recognize the best of the best in Latin American capital markets over the course of the past twelve months.
Through this transaction Vicentin will be able to procure soybeans for the new crushing facility in Timbues, Argentina, which is a joint venture between Vicentin, Molinos Rio de la Plata and Glencore. The transaction is structured as a pre-export finance facility that allows Vicentin to use the proceeds to procure inputs for processing of exportable commodities (soy oil and soy meal). Being one of the lowest costs producers of soy in the world, Argentina plays an important role in serving the increasing global demand for protein and soy meal animal feed. Furthermore, agricultural exports are an important source of tax and foreign currency income in Argentina.
