Romanian food company AAylex ONE signs syndicated credit facility worth 431 million RON

AAylex ONE, one of the largest players in the Romanian food industry, the producer of Cocorico brand, announces the signing of a syndicated credit facility, in value of 431 million RON, organized by a syndicate of five banks. The banking organizations involved in the project are OTP Bank Romania, the main arranger and coordinator, CEC Bank and EximBank, as the main coordinators and with the participation of First Bank and International Investment Bank.

PCF Investment Banking Romania acted as the transaction and documentation arranger and provided specialized information to the borrower in structuring, negotiating, and implementing the transaction.

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (NNDKP) acted as legal advisor for AAylex ONE, ensuring the structuring, negotiation, and execution of credit documentation.

Tuca, Zbarcea si Asociatii (TZA) acted as legal consultant for the banking syndicate.

This facility meant to consolidate the existing loans under the same syndicated umbrella, given that at the end of last year, the group integrated 16 of its entities into a single company AAylex ONE, to increase operational efficiency and continue the consumer centric development strategy.

We are confident that this financing facility will sustain our efficiency increase on short, medium and long term. Despite the economic challenges of the past years, we showed we are a reliable partner, with long term resilience and almost 40 years of experience in the food industry, with products and services at demanding standards and with a clear focus for continuous optimization and permanent development of our business portfolio. With this occasion, I would like to thank to all our partners, close to us during the syndicate operations, both financial institutions and consultancy companies”, said Bogdan Stanca, Founder & President of the Directorate of AAylex ONE.

“We are pleased to finalize, together with the support of partner institutions, the arrangement and structuring of this syndicated loan, an important project for us and for local agribusiness. It is a reference project, both in terms of value and complexity, but especially in that it allows a local player with a tradition to continue his development as planned.

We sustain AAylex ONE with the entire expertise of OTP Bank Romania accumulated in the agri-field and, at the same time, we are confident that the implementation of this project confirms our commitment to support customers acting in this industry “, said Roxana Hidan, Deputy General Manager of OTP Bank Romania, Business Division.

“We are delighted to be able to support this important project for the Romanian industry and to work together for developing entrepreneurial businesses in which we see huge growth potential in the medium and long term,” said Laura Mihai, Director of the Large Corporate Unit within CEC Bank.

 “As we are dedicated supporters of the business community, we are delighted to contribute to AAylex ONE success, especially during this consolidation phase. EximBank is always presenting smart financial solutions to the entrepreneurs looking to spot out the opportunities that allow them to develop powerful regional companies and their positive outcomes are eased up by teaming with a flexible and adaptable partner”, declared Traian Halalai, Executive President of EximBank.

„We are pleased to be part of AAylex ONE’s expansion. This is an essential step in the business consolidation phase and we are confident that the company will continue to be successful implementing their strategy under the strong leaderhip of management”, commented Henk Paardekooper, President of Executive Committee and General Director of First Bank S.A.

“Romania has been one of our most active shareholders and one of the main beneficiaries of IIB financial support. We are happy to extend our partnership with Aaylex One and join an esteemed group of financial institutions in structuring this transaction. We believe it will further benefit to the expansion of the business of the company, and as a result contribute to the development of the vital sector of the Romanian economy”, commented Georgy Potapov, IIB Deputy Chairperson of the Management Board in charge of Lending and Investment.

We are proud to have been involved in this transaction for our long term partner Aaylex, with over 8 years of doing various deals together, and we are glad that another Romanian company was able to access a syndicated loan, in a complex transaction, within the LMA framework for structuring and documentation, which enables a strong platform  for further financing” said Mihai Iordan, Managing Partner PCF Investment Banking.

We are pleased that this landmark transaction for the Romanian market has reached a successful completion, after months of sustained efforts by all parties involved in creating the structure and transaction documentation at international standards.

The recent initiatives of AAylex ONE, namely the acquisition in early 2021 of the subsidiary of a multinational company (Banvit), the successful completion of one of the largest and most complex mergers in our market (which entailed the merging of 16 companies in the group) in record time, and this financing show the fantastic ambition of the company to create a visible impact in the Romanian entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as in its sector of activity. The real support from the banks in the system demonstrates the viability of the company’s approach. It is in this type of large-scale projects in which, as transaction and corporate finance lawyers, we truly find our satisfaction and pride” said Valentin Voinescu, NNDKP Partner.

“We were very pleased to be involved in this transaction. The very tight timeframe in which the negotiation and finalization of the transaction documentation were conducted, as well as the legal topics addressed in the contracts involved a significant joint effort, with corresponding professional satisfactions upon the successful closing of the transaction.” The team from Tuca Zbarcea & Associates who assisted the syndicate of banks consisted of Mihai Dudoiu, Partner and Catalin Georgescu, Managing Associate.