Deutsche Bank agrees loan facility for Italian parmesan producer

Deutsche Bank, together with Italy’s Banco BPM and other syndicate banks, has announced a loan €27.5m to Brescia Group’s Ambrosi SpA, an Italian company that specialises in the production and ageing of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano DOP cheeses.

In a first for Deutsche Bank in Italy, the 5-year loan is secured by Ambrosi SpA’s own inventory of parmesan cheese, which today in Italy has become a more 'liquid asset' than property. After a maturing process that lasts at least two years, premium Italian cheeses such as the Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano DOP fetch prices of between €550-740 per wheel on the open market.

The proceeds of the loan will be used to enhance Ambrosi SpA’s ability to export Italian made cheeses around the world, starting from the new facility built to hold a total of 120,000 cheese wheels, increasing the company’s cheese production capacity by 20%.

 

TIS and TIPCO formalise collaboration

TIS, a cloud-based platform for corporate payments, and TIPCO, a treasury solutions provider, have announced that they have formalised their long-standing cooperation through a strategic partnership agreement. Over recent years, the two companies have built a track-record of providing solutions to European clients.

TIS and TIPCO share a joint mission to provide corporate treasurers with the best possible solutions through a seamless end-to-end cash management process. The components are tailored to the clients’ specific needs, without the need of costly IT implementation.

“TIPCO is a top-of-the-line provider with an excellent solution," said Joerg Wiemer, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of TIS. "Formalising our partnership is an important step towards building a best-of-breed cash management ecosystem based on cloud and API integration. This will provide our customers with a better experience that includes faster innovation and more strategic agility for future growth.”

“Good systems should save a company time and money," commented Alexander Fleischmann, head of International Market Development and responsible for the collaboration on behalf of TIPCO. "Digitalisation, however, can also be at the cost of flexibility if you rely on rigid one-fits-all solutions. The seamless integration between TIS and TIP combines two systems to offer the best of both: state-of-the art technology and extremely high levels of flexibility.”

 

Hedge Trackers partners with Riverside and Scissero to offer LIBOR transition solution

Hedge Trackers has announced the launch of LiborXchange, a strategic partnership with Riverside Risk Advisors (Riverside) and Scissero to help clients through the imminent LIBOR transition.

LIBOR is widely expected to become irrelevant after December 31, 2021, and there are trillions of dollars of LIBOR-based financial instruments, including loans and derivatives that create potentially material exposures that need to be addressed. Borrowers, banks and alternative lenders all face the daunting task of systematically reviewing each and every loan and financial instrument in their portfolio to determine the appropriate course of action. With a large number of US credit agreements stipulating a fallback to Base Rate (i.e., Prime), borrowers will face a 200 to 300 basis point shock increase in interest costs until legal agreements are amended – not a seamless process.

LiborXchange takes a holistic approach to guide clients through the transition. To ensure an efficient and transparent transition, LiborXchange leverages:

• Deep experience in global capital markets.
• A data extraction, document automation and workflow solution.
• Quantitative analysis.
• Risk management support.
• Legal resources, if needed.

 

Chanel pioneers sustainability-linked bonds supported by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has announced it has supported luxury goods company Chanel to issue its first sustainability-linked bonds. The €600m inaugural transaction - a first in the luxury sector linked to the ICMA Sustainability-Linked Bonds Principles - will support Chanel's Mission 1.5° climate strategy by linking the bond terms to carbon reduction targets. 

The targets include:

• Decreasing Chanel's own (scope 1 and 2) emissions by 50% by 2030. 
• Decreasing Chanel's supply chain (scope 3) absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2030. 
• Shifting to 100% renewable electricity in Chanel operations by 2025.

The emission reduction targets were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative. 

Chanel is the first unrated issuer to place public bonds linked to its sustainability objectives. The financing is also aligned to the Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles and provides investors with an opportunity to support the luxury sector’s transition to decarbonise. The Sustainability-Linked Bonds were well received by the market and were oversubscribed. BNP Paribas was joint structuring advisor and joint bookrunner on the deal. The progress of sustainability objectives will be assessed regularly by a third-party verifier.