Secured lending package spans three continents, highlights trend to customised global financing
GE Capital, the global alternative finance provider dedicated to the mid-market, announces it has provided a US$300 million cross-border financing facility to Accolade Wines, the largest wine company by volume of wine sold in Australia and the UK.
Accolade Wines initially secured a US$220 million financing facility from GE Capital in 2011. This latest finance solution provides upsized global facilities to Accolade Wines, as the company recapitalises its balance sheet to fund the continued global growth of the business.
Nick Bennett, Director of Leveraged & Sponsor Finance, GE Capital A&NZ said: "GE Capital has worked closely with Accolade Wines and its majority owner CHAMP Private Equity since 2011 to support the strong growth of the business. This latest transaction evidences GE Capital's understanding of the complex financing requirements of Private Equity firms and their investee companies, and GE's ability to execute cross border in multiple markets."
Over the last 12 months, GE Capital has funded more than US$800M in cross-border deals and introduced a Global Financial Solutions (GFS) team dedicated to providing a one-stop shop for cross-border financing solutions. One of these deals was a US$250MM pan-European and North American ABL financing solution to global rigid and flexible packaging firm, Coveris (formerly Exopack) in November. This reflects the increasing numbers of corporate companies who recognise the advantage of having a single, global financing partner. A strong pipeline is in place for 2014 and beyond as appetite for this form of financing continues to grow.
Richard Laxer, President and CEO, GE Capital International said: "Many of our customers' businesses cover multiple geographies. Our global footprint and experience in cross-border transactions position us to provide global financing solutions that fit our customer needs. We were able to support Accolade Wines and CHAMP with a financing facility to help them fund the continued global growth of their business."
John Ratcliffe, CEO, Accolade Wines said: "We have been partnering with GE for some time. GE's global platform is important to the implementation of our strategy of being a full-service New World wine proposition across the three core price segments of value, mid-market and premium. We operate globally and working with GE allows us to do this seamlessly across multiple geographies."