We advised DEG on a secured loan granted to Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas (ACA) for US$50,000,000
Bruchou & Funes de Rioja advices DEG – Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG), a German development finance institution and a subsidiary of the KfW Group, which provides long-term financing and advisory services to private enterprises in developing and emerging markets, in the granting of a senior secured loan of USD 50 million to Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas C.L. (ACA), one of the country’s most significant grain operators.
ACA is a second-tier cooperative (a “cooperative of cooperatives”) that brings together over 140 agricultural cooperatives and approximately 50,000 farmers across Argentina. ACA handles about 17–19% of the total grain market and commercializes over 24 million tons of grains and oilseeds annually. The proposed financing consists of secured loans to support ACA’s grain origination businesses throughout different Argentinian provinces, as well as the renovation and construction of silos and warehouses with a combined storage capacity of over 100,000 tonnes.
This financing is secured by a series of local and cross-border guarantees granted by ACA and its affiliates, including: (i) five first priority registered pledges over equipment located in five different locations in the Provinces of Buenos Aires (Trenque Lauquen, Pergamino, Salto and Baradero) and Entre Ríos (Gualeguay); (ii) mortgages over five facilities located in the Provinces of Buenos Aires (Trenque Lauquen, Pergamino, Salto and Baradero) and Entre Ríos (Gualeguay); (iii) a personal guarantee issued by Fisway A, a Uruguayan entity and affiliate of ACA; and (iv) a pledge over ACA’s debt service account opened in a Uruguayan financial entity.
Bruchou & Funes de Rioja acted as Argentine external legal counsel to DEG through a team led by partner Analía Battaglia and Matías López Figueroa, the senior associate Lucrecia Von Petery and the associates Quimey Waisten and Victoria Negro.
CMS Hasche Sigle Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten und Steuerberatern mbB acted as German external legal counsel to DEG through a team led by partner André Frischemeier, and the associate Nona Naydenova.
Guyer & Regules acted as Uruguayan external legal counsel to DEG through a team led by partner Diego Baldomir and the associates Javier Napoleone and Emilia Gutierrez Macadar.
DEG was advised internally by its in-house team of counsels, Rudolf Carlos Hoemberg, and Romy Lanz.
ACA was advised internally by its in-house counsel, Gonzalo Nicolás Pellico and Mariela Mabel Raffo.
