SINGAPORE – Olam International, a global food and agri-business company, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Olam Treasury Pte. Ltd.  (OTPL), has successfully completed the syndication of its medium-term samurai loan facility which was announced on 8 July 2020.

Post syndication, the Facility was increased from the initial launch size of JPY 25 billion (US$235.75m) to JPY 38.85 billion (US$366m).

The Facility consists a 3-year tranche of JPY 27.60 billion (US$260m), and a 5-year tranche of JPY 11.25 billion (US$106m), guaranteed by Olam.

“We are very pleased with the completion of the general syndication that demonstrates our strong and continued access to committed funding across different pools of capital,” N Muthukumar, Managing Director and Group CFO of Olam said.

“I am particularly pleased with the over-subscription in both the 3- and 5-year tranches that upsized the facility from JPY25 billion (US$235.75m) to JPY38.8 billion (US$365.89m). I would like to thank the 4 lead banks and the 12 participating banks for their support.”

In addition to MUFG Bank Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (Singapore Branch) and Development Bank of Japan Inc. who acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners (MLABs), the Facility saw participation from 12 Japanese and international banks.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (Singapore Branch) and Barclays Bank Plc were the swap providers for the Facility.

Olam Group recently reported strong results for the first half of 2020 and highlighted it made good progress on its Strategic Plan (2019-2024) and Re-organisation Plan announced in January 2020.

Olam Group has been re-organised into i.e. Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), Olam Global Agri (OGA) and Olam International Limited (OIL), and the company highlighted that it is reporting against the newly formed operating groups for the first time.

The group’s revenue in the half year period increased by 7.1% to US$17.1 billion (US$12.4bn) with OGA contributed 58.9% of total Group revenue, OFI 36.1%, and OIL 5.0%.

Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), offering natural and value‑added food ingredients, reported strong top-line growth with revenue up 8.8% to S$6.2 billion (US$4.5m), mainly driven by volume growth as well as higher average selling prices.

Olam Global Agri (OGA), reported revenue rise of 8.4% to S$10.1 billion (US$7.3bn), mainly driven by higher volumes as well as higher prices in food staples including Grains, Rice and Edible Oils.

Olam International Limited (OIL), as parent company of OFI and OGA, OIL plays a key role to unlock the full value of the Olam Group by providing active stewardship to the new operating groups, responsibly divesting the de-prioritised businesses and assets, nurturing gestating businesses to full potential, incubating new engines for future growth, developing key cross cutting initiatives, and providing shared services to the new operating groups.

OIL reported lower revenue of 14.6% to S$849.3 million (US$619.1m) with the closure of the Sugar, Rubber and Fertiliser trading desks, the Fundamental Fund and the Wood Products business in Latin America.

The groups Profit After Tax and Minority Interests (PATMI) grew 44.4% to S$332.7 million (US$242.5m) due to a net exceptional gain of S$130.6 million from the divestments of the remaining 50.0% stake in Far East Agri and the partial stake sale of ARISE P&L, offset partially by one-off exit and closure costs of other de-prioritised assets that were divested or shut down.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE