Total Produce plc has announced that it has successfully completed the syndication of its financing arrangement as part of its merger with Dole Food Company, Inc.
The new company is to be called Dole plc and will be a US-listed company, the company added.
Credit Agreement
In April, Total Produce announced that it had entered into a credit agreement for $940 million senior secured Term Loan B (TLB) and $500 million senior secured Revolving Credit Facility (RCF).
Following strong demand, the Irish fruit and vegetables group revised the arrangements to a $540 million seven-year US dollar senior secured TLB facility, a $300 million senior secured US dollar five-year Term Loan A facility and a $600 million multicurrency senior secured RCF, totalling $1.44 billion.
Total Produce confirmed in its statement that "all facilities have been successfully syndicated."
Financing
On completion of the transaction, the money will be used, in part, to refinance Dole Food Company, Inc's existing financing arrangements.
The combined financing arrangements will finance Dole plc's activities at a lower cost.
S&P Global Ratings assigned a preliminary BB issuer credit rating to Dole plc and a preliminary BB+ issue-level rating to the senior secured facilities.
Moody's assigned the new entity a corporate issue-level rating of Ba3.
Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs Bank USA are the joint bookrunners and joint lead arrangers for the RCF, the TLA, and the TLB.
Last week, the European Commission approved the merger of the fresh produce firm and Dole Food Company, which is subject to approval by Total Produce shareholders, market conditions, and other customary conditions.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Fresh Produce news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
