PRESS RELEASE

DATE: November 2012

SALANS ADVISES MANDATED LEAD ARRANGERS ON USD 255 MILLION SYNDICATED COMMODITY FACILITY TO PJSC CREATIVE

November 2012, Kyiv:
Salans advised the mandated lead arrangers on a USD 255 million syndicated commodity facility to PJSC Creative of Ukraine. The facility was led and arranged by UniCredit as coordinating mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, and VTB Capital plc as senior lead arranger.
The facility comes on the back of the company’s successful debut USD 150 million transaction of last year.
The financing is structured as a dual tranche short-term committed, annually extendable financing. The proceeds will be used to finance the company’s sunflower seed purchases, their storage period and their processing period until the seeds have been processed into commodities to be sold on the domestic market or exported under export contracts.
Lenders under the facility are PJSC Ukrsotsbank (a member of UniCredit) as coordinating mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, VTB Capital plc as senior mandated lead arranger, Erste Group Bank AG as mandated lead arranger and Société Générale as arranger.
Salans’ team was led by Natalia Selyakova (Partner, Salans Kyiv) with key support from Denis Kulgavyi (Associate, Salans Kyiv), who assisted the clients in drafting documentation under the transaction and coordinating the work of legal counsel involved from different jurisdictions.
Natalia Selaykova, Partner at Salans’ Kyiv office commented: “We were very pleased to assist on this remarkable transaction. The transaction was challenging in terms of its legal structure and the number of parties and legal counsels from different jurisdictions involved. We highly appreciate the support and cooperation of all parties, which led to the successful closing of this transaction.”

Key Contacts:

Natalia Selyakova
Partner, Head of Salans Banking & Finance Practice Group in Ukraine
E: nselyakova@salans.com
T: +380 44 494 47 74

Irina Batmanova
Business Development & Marketing Manager, Salans Ukraine
E: ibatmanova@salans.com
T: +380 44 494 47 74

NOTES TO EDITORS:
About PJSC Creative, Ukraine:
Creative Group is the no. 2 producer of vegetable fats and margarines in Ukraine with a 33% market share. It also produces bottled refined sunflower oil with an 18% share in the domestic market, and ranks among the top 6 producers of bulk sunflower oil in Ukraine with a market share of 5% in the marketing year 2010/2011. Current annual crushing capacity stands at over 1 million tonnes of sunflower seeds (a new oil-extraction plant was launched in July 2012) and 87.6 thousand tonnes of soybeans. Soybean crushing capacity is planned to further increase by 182.5 thousand tonnes per annum by the end of 2012.

About UniCredit:
UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries as well as representative offices in 27 other markets, with about 9,400 branches and approximately 158,000 employees. UniCredit benefits from a strong European identity, extensive international presence and broad customer base.

About PJSC “Ukrsotsbank”:
PJSC Ukrsotsbank is one of the largest universal banks in Ukraine today, and a member of UniCredit Group. As one of the most reliable financial institutions in Ukraine, the bank offers the whole scope of up-to-date financial and payment instruments to companies aimed at commercial progress and to individuals to raise their welfare.

About VTB Capital:
VTB Capital, the investment business of VTB Group, is one of the three strategic business arms of VTB Group, along with the corporate and retail businesses. Since its foundation in 2008, VTB Capital has taken part in more than 288 ECM and DCM deals, which were instrumental in attracting more than USD 117.65 billion worth of investments to Russia and the CIS. VTB Capital offers a full range of investment banking products and services to Russian and international clients, focusing on arranging operations in the debt, equity and global commodities markets, developing investment and asset management, and advising clients on M&A and ECM deals in Russia and abroad.  VTB Capital operates in Moscow, London, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Sofia, New York, Paris and Vienna, with headquarters in Moscow.

About Salans

  • Salans is an international commercial law firm built on a pioneering spirit, with 930 fee earners and over 1,500 staff operating from 20 offices. All are dedicated to delivering fast and effective legal services to the firm’s global client base.
  • Salans regularly receives praise from clients and industry observers around the world. In 2010, The Lawyer magazine awarded Salans the coveted ‘European Law Firm of the Year’ award in its annual European Awards.
  • The firm prides itself on its independent and entrepreneurial spirit, combining extensive international capabilities with a focus on the provision of top-level domestic expertise and experience in each jurisdiction in which it operates. Clients get the best of both worlds.
  • Salans has established offices in business and political centres in 17 countries across Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS, North America and Asia.
  • The offices are listed here alphabetically: Almaty, Baku, Barcelona, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kyiv, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Warsaw.
  • See www.salans.com for further information.

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Salans LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in England and Wales with Registration Number OC 316822.  Regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority of England and Wales.   A list of the members of Salans LLP and of the non-members who are designated as partners of Salans LLP and/or its affiliated entities is available at its Registered Office: Millennium Bridge House, 2 Lambeth Hill, London EC4V 4AJ, United Kingdom.