Louis Dreyfus Company Announces Its First Sustainability-linked Revolving Credit Facility
ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 28 May 2019 – Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) is pleased to announce the renewal of its US$750 million revolving credit facility (RCF) in North America, including a sustainability-linked pricing mechanism for the first time. The transaction replaces its previous three-year US$750 million RCF.
Through the sustainability-linked mechanism, the RCF interest rate is linked to performance against LDC’s four key performance indicators, which set reductions in CO2 emissions, electricity consumption, water usage and solid waste sent to landfill. As part of the agreement, there will be an interest rate margin reduction for each year in which LDC makes improvements in its sustainability performance, with an independent auditor providing validation.
“Our position in the food value chain puts us at the heart of some of the world’s most pressing challenges, such as the need to feed a growing world population sustainably. As a company, we are committed to fair and sustainable value creation, and with this first sustainability-linked RCF, today we are linking that commitment to our financing. It is also positive that the banking community is increasingly rising to the challenge, through novel financing options,” said Federico Cerisoli, LDC’s Group Chief Financial Officer.
“We intend to implement similar sustainability-related targets as our other two RCFs come up for renewal in Asia and EMEA,” he added.
The transaction was led and anchored by BNP Paribas, Bank of America, ICBC, ING, MUFG, Société Générale and SunTrust as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners, with ING acting as sustainability structuring agent and BNP Paribas as sustainability coordinator.
About Louis Dreyfus Company
Louis Dreyfus Company is a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods. We leverage our global reach and extensive asset network to serve customers and consumers around the world, delivering the right products to the right location, at the right time – safely, responsibly and reliably. Our activities span the entire value chain from farm to fork, across a broad range of business lines (platforms). Since 1851 our portfolio has grown to include Oilseeds, Grains, Freight, Global Markets, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Rice, Juice and Dairy. We help feed and clothe some 500 million people every year by originating, processing and transporting approximately 80 million tons of products. Structured as a matrix organization of 6 geographical regions and 10 platforms, Louis Dreyfus Company is active in over 100 countries and employs approximately 18 000 people globally. For more information, visit www.ldc.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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