The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD) has made its first investment into Turkish agribusiness by signing a US$30mn loan to Noble Hammadde Ticaret (NHT).
The ERBD financing is an annual loan that is renewable for three years.
NHT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble Group, is a grain and oilseeds supply chain company operating in Turkey and will use the loan to support its working capital needs.
The company mainly imports soft commodities such as soybean, soybean oil, sunflower oil, rice, corn and wheat from Nobel Group companies and third parties to sell domestically.
Under EBRD’s A/B loan structure, the bank is keeping US$10mn on its own account and syndicating the remaining US$20mn out to a third party bank.
This comes after the EBRD provided a similar financing package of up to US$50mn to a subsidiary of Noble Group in Ukraine in October 2009.
Gilles Mettetal, EBRD’s director, says: “In the current environment, securing financing for trading activities remains a challenge and the EBRD is pleased to support the further development of NHT with this project, which will have a wider positive impact on the overall Turkish agribusiness sector.”
Noble Group’s CEO, Ricardo Leiman, adds: “We are pleased to further enhance our relationship with the ERBD and delighted to receive their support for our important domestic Turkish business. We consider this an endorsement of a successful business model.”
Last Updated March 31, 2010
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