ING Capital LLC led a $300 million syndicated financing on behalf of GT Commodities LLC, the North American trading hub for Gerald Group, the world's largest employee owned metals merchant. The deal closed on October 4, 2019. ING, as Administrative Agent, structured and arranged this inaugural revolving credit facility. Deutsche Bank and Rabobank acted as Joint Lead Arrangers. The deal was well oversubscribed and the syndicate is comprised of commodity finance lenders including MUFG, Bank of China, HSBC and Credit Agricole.
The facility's structure includes a US$50 million accordion feature which provides Gerald with the flexibility to expand the deal to support GTC's growing business in the North American region.
"Gerald Group is extremely pleased to have closed this debut transaction for which there was very strong support from the commodity finance community. This facility is important in underpinning the Group's continued growth ambitions for North America," said Mital Patel, Global Head of Finance, Gerald Group. "ING is one of Gerald's most valued global finance partners. For this deal, their team in New York proved to be quick and responsive. Working with Rabobank and Deutsche, they provided Gerald and the extended banking group with competitive terms and certainty of execution, which was critical for such an important transaction."
"ING appreciated the opportunity to lead Gerald's inaugural syndicated transaction," said Matthew Rosetti, Managing Director, Trade & Commodity Finance. "Gerald is an important relationship for ING. This was a unique opportunity to continue expanding our presence in the North American commodity banking market, and it was a pleasure working with Gerald's experienced management team on this important milestone. Gerald is well-positioned in the diversified metals space and this credit facility provides them with a scalable financing solution upon which to continue growing their business in the region."
ING's Trade & Commodity Finance franchise services clients from eight global locations and was recently voted the #1 Commodity Finance Bank in the World by Global Trade Review.