ZURICH, Switzerland – The Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, has announced the successful placement of its second Schuldscheindarlehen in two years’ time.
A Schuldschein is a privately placed, typically unsecured medium to long long-term debt obligation typically governed by German law, which fundamentally comprises of a loan agreement (a ‘Schuldscheindarlehen’ (“SSD”)) and a certificate of indebtedness evidencing such loan agreement (a Schuldschein).
The Group has raised the equivalent of CHF 430 million in euro¹ and CHF 20 million in Swiss franc, hence a total of CHF 450 million. The weighted average tenor is 6.9 years with a weighted average interest rate² of 1.68%. The offer was heavily oversubscribed and attracted, besides German and Asian banks, also a broad range of other European banks.
“We are pleased with the very significant interest of international investors in our offering,” said Remco Steenbergen, Chief Financial Officer of the Barry Callebaut Group. This issuance means a further shift from uncommitted to committed funding sources through which we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis with a further strengthened balance sheet.
The proceeds are allocated to general corporate purposes. The transaction further strengthens the Group’s committed long-term liquidity structure by extending the average maturity at attractive interest rates and reduces its reliance on short-term funding sources.
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A. (in cooperation with Raiffeisen Bank International AG), SEB AB Frankfurt Branch and Société Générale acted as arrangers for the offering. Barry Callebaut issued its first Schuldscheindarlehen in February 2019. At that moment, the EUR 600 million equivalent Schuldscheindarlehen was the largest in CHF denominated Schuldschein and the first sustainable Schuldscheindarlehen ever issued.
1 EUR translated at EUR/CHF FX rate equal to 1.0679.
2 The EUR and CHF floating tranches, which represent 35% of the total volume of the transaction, have as a base rate the 6-month Euribor respectively the 6-month CHF Libor, both floored at 0%.
