Dentons advises UniCredit on US$1.1 billion financing for Neumann Group

Dusseldorf—Global law firm Dentons has advised UniCredit as documentation agent on a US$1.1 billion revolving credit facility with a borrowing base reference for Neumann Gruppe GmbH. UniCredit and ING jointly acted as bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers. An international banking consortium of sixteen other syndicate banks were involved in the financing, including Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ BANK, Helaba, HSBC, LBBW, MUFG, NordLB and Rabobank. As a global coffee wholesaler, Neumann will use the funds to refinance and consolidate its existing financing arrangements and to finance general trading activities of the Neumann Group. The facility includes an increase option to a total of US$1.4 billion.

An international team from 10 jurisdictions advised UniCredit as documentation agent including throughout the entire syndication process. Dusseldorf-based Dentons partner Dr. Axel Schlieter led the cross-border legal team.

“This successful closing marks an important milestone for Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. By welcoming new banking partners and diversifying our financing structure, we’ve strengthened our base and gained the flexibility to further develop our global business”, said NKG Group CFO, Justin Schulze-Smidt.

Neumann Gruppe GmbH, based in Hamburg, is the holding company of the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, which comprises more than 40 companies in 28 countries and has over 3,300 employees worldwide. The company provides several services along the green coffee value chain, including export and milling, import, farm management, insurance, logistics, storage and statistics. The Neumann Kaffee Gruppe is privately owned and managed.

Axel Schlieter‘s team frequently advises on cross-border syndicated and structured credit facilities, most recently UniCredit as documentation agent on a US$1.1 billion borrowing base loan facility for Ameropa Trade Holding AG.

Advisors to UniCredit:

(all Banking and Finance, unless otherwise indicated)

Germany: Dr. Axel Schlieter (Partner, overall lead), Julia Heitmann (Counsel), Paul Sieminski (Associate, all Düsseldorf)

Brazil (Vella Pugliese Buosi e Guidoni Advogados): Fernando Lopes (Partner), Rodrigo Vella (Partner), Jean Pontes (Of Counsel, all also Corporate/M&A, all São Paulo)

France: Jean-Marc Allix (Partner), Philippine de Fouchier (Counsel), Marine Hestroffer (Associate, all Paris)

Italy: Alessandro Fosco Fagotto (Partner), Gaia Grossi (Senior Associate, both Milan)

Colombia: Bernardo Cardenas (Partner), Maria Fernanda Bonilla (Associate, both Bogota)

Mexico: Amanda Valdez (Partner), Gustavo Mendoza (Associate, both Mexico City)

Spain: Luis Belart Siguero (Partner), Jabier Badiola Bergara (Partner), Miguel del Río (Associate, all Madrid)

Singapore: Janice Ngeow (Senior Partner), Lee Min Lau (Partner), Gregory Chua (Practice Trainee)

US: Andrew J. Bates (Counsel, New York)

Zurich-based law firm Homburger advised on Swiss law.