Crédit Agricole CIB, alongside Crédit Agricole Champagne Bourgogne Regional Bank and LCL, acted as mandated lead arranger, bookrunner, coordinator and facility agent in a EUR 1,050 million syndicated facility for Soufflet.

These new EUR 1,050 million credit facilities, signed on October 10th, 2011, are split into three tranches as follows:

• EUR 400 million 5-year amortising term loan and EUR 400 million 5-year revolving credit facility to be used for general corporate purposes including the refinancing of some existing indebtedness, capex and acquisition financing, and
• a series of extendable 364-day bilateral credit lines totalling EUR 250 million with the guarantee of France Agrimer (the “FAM Tranche”).
   

This financing enables the company to secure its liquidity for the next five years and to perform its strategic plan aiming at a doubling of its size within six years. 

This deal has allowed the Crédit Agricole group to strengthen its top position with this AgriFood company.

Soufflet Group, a leading French agro-industrial group, is a historical client for Crédit Agricole Champagne Bourgogne Regional Bank. This family-owned group has built strong positions in malting (n°3 worldwide), collecting cereals (n°2 on the French market) and milling.