Global, sector-focused law firm HFW advised Geneva-based coffee company Sucafina on a US$500 million sustainability-linked senior secured borrowing base facility.
The facility includes a series of sustainability-related Key Performance Indicators, including increasing the number of certified farmers and reducing the carbon footprint and deforestation in coffee-producing countries.
The two-year revolving credit facility was significantly oversubscribed and subsequently upsized from an initial US$400 million, with commitments received from a globally diverse group of 16 European, American and Asian banks, led by ING Bank.
The facility includes two extension options of up to one year, and refinanced four existing facilities of the group, including a US$300 million senior secured borrowing base facility.
Together with an existing Brazilian syndicated borrowing base and bilateral loans, the new facility will finance the group’s trading operations.
Sucafina has introduced enhanced technology with the involvement of Swiss-based trade finance platform KOMGO as Digital Agent.
HFW acted as international, English and Swiss counsel to Sucafina. The firm’s team was led by Olivier Bazin, with support from Anne-Marie Pearce, Natalie Lake and Alix Bosson.
Olivier Bazin, Partner, HFW Geneva:
“We were delighted to partner with Sucafina on this complex refinancing involving six obligors, multiple tranches, currencies, and new security in 11 jurisdictions. This is the flagship trade finance facility of the group and is also remarkable in terms of digitisation, and progress towards reduced carbon emissions and deforestation. Our specialised commodity finance team, located in the commodity trading hubs of Geneva, London and Singapore, is perfectly placed to serve global groups such as Sucafina.”
HFW recently continued to expand its market-leading commodities practice with the hire of senior structured trade and commodity finance partner Matthew Cox.
The firm’s global commodities group has 29 partners and more than 80 lawyers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The team advise clients across the full spectrum of commodities, including physical supply, transportation, storage, OTC and exchange-traded derivatives, finance, digital trade, insurance, operations, compliance, sanctions and regulation.
To find out more about Sucafina’s sustainability-linked financing, click here.
