Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods has revealed it has secured a new CAD2bn (US$1.48bn) funding arrangement with its existing banking syndicate to partly fund its expansion plans.
The new credit facility consists of an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities. Maple Leaf said the facility provides it with enhanced liquidity and financial flexibility.
Debbie Simpson, chief financial officer, said: “We are very pleased with our new credit facility and the strong and continued support received from our banking partners. This new facility provides us increased capacity to fund strategic growth initiatives, a key step towards achieving our financial and business goals.”
The new facility is intended, in part, to meet the meat product manufacturer’s funding requirements for investment in the construction of its two recently announced facilities in London, Ontario, and Shelbyville, Indiana, in the US.
The Shelbyville plan was announced last month. Maple Leaf said the US$310m facility would be used by its newly-established plant-based subsidiary Greenleaf Foods. Construction work is expected to begin imminently and the facility will employ around 460 staff once operational.
The lending syndicate for the new facility comprised nine financial institutions with BMO Capital Markets acting as sole book runner and BMO Capital Markets, Scotiabank, RBC, CIBC, and Rabobank Canada as co-lead arrangers.
