Stanbic Bank Ghana this week confirmed that a record number of
commitments have been secured for Ghana Cocoa Board’s 17th annual
pre-export finance facility. Standard Bank was one of the joint mandated
lead arrangers (MLAs) for the US$1.2 billion transaction along with
Crédit Agricole, ICBC, Ghana International Bank and SMBC.
Ghana's cocoa industry consists of thousands of small-scale farmers.
The transaction was oversubscribed at US$1.834 billion, and the
borrower increased the facility size to US$1.5 billion. A total of 28
banks, including the MLAs, confirmed participation, with ticket sizes
following scale-backs ranging from US$5 million to US$100 million.The structure of this deal remains unchanged, with the facility used to purchase cocoa beans for the 2010/11 season, and secured by the assignment of export contracts from overseas buyers.>>>more>>>
