Practice Overview Agribusiness OUR AGRIBUSINESS PRACTICE Mayer Brown’s Agribusiness team acts for a range of financial institutions, commodity producers, traders and blue-chip corporates, and is well qualified to address the challenges that arise in the agricultural sector. Above and beyond Above and beyond our industry expertise, Our agribusiness financing experience our industry expertise, we recognize that practice style is critical covers the full range of activity from we recognize that to the success of our clients in the input supply, processing, value-added practice style is agribusiness sector. We take great pride manufacturing, and wholesale distri- critical to the success in our long track record of providing bution to retail. We have also worked of our clients in the creative advice, without “overlawyering,” on financings involving the full range agribusiness sector. and earning the buy-in from clients in a of agricultural commodities, including cooperative, low-key manner. grain, sugar, coffee, dairy, chicken, beef, pork, seafood, soybeans, fruits We set out below some of the key and vegetables, as well as cotton, areas in which we can be of assis- oilseeds, and forest products. This tance to clients in the sector. experience includes working with Agrifinance borrowers operating on both a coop- erative and non-cooperative basis. With more than 200 finance lawyers, Mayer Brown has one of the largest Our lending experience with agricul- banking & finance practices in the tural companies includes cash flow world. We represent most of the loans, asset based loans and “borrow- world’s largest banks, both domestic ing base” loans with limited ABL and international. The majority of the dominion and control concepts. Our firm’s 100 largest clients include ABL and borrowing base deal experi- leading commercial and investment ence includes substantial expertise in banks, insurance companies, leasing establishing eligibility criteria for companies, asset-based lenders and those assets forming a part of the bank holding companies. borrowing base (both domestic and mayer brown 3 pre-export finance) and standards for imposing Derivatives appropriate reserves for matters such as PACA Our derivatives lawyers understand the world of liens, non-performance, landlord liens and the like. equity and index derivatives, derivatives-linked In addition, many of our deals involve detailed securities, fund-linked derivatives, commodity- lock-box and cash concentration mechanics that linked derivatives, structured products, hybrids provide lenders control over cash receipts. and other exotic derivatives, across credit, equity We have substantial experience with the manage- and commodity asset classes. ment of security interests in a variety of Our team understands the hedging strategies commodities. This includes detailed knowledge as commonly employed for agricultural transactions, to taking security interests with respect to in-tran- and how they can be managed in the context of a sit agricultural products, whether being shipped by financing that works for the underlying business train, truck, barge or international ocean-going while protecting the financiers. We have worked vessel. Work in this area has included the treat- extensively in the treasury/dealing room environ- ment of tangible bills of lading and warehouse ment in connection with hedging and other receipts, both negotiable and non-negotiable. In derivative products and have substantial experi- addition, we have significant knowledge of elec- ence in negotiating high volumes of derivatives tronic bills of lading and warehouse receipts, the agreements for a variety of clients. Our team has use of which is increasingly the norm in grain, experience across all of the major documentation cotton and other commodities. In the last few platforms including ISDA, FOA, EFET and specific years, our real estate attorneys have filed hundreds commodity trading documentation, such as for the of mortgages in connection with our agri-finance Zeebrugge Hub, and Forward Freight Association. deals, and have extensive knowledge of the unique issues arising from securing rural real estate and Regulators in both the United States and Europe processing facilities. are increasingly focusing on commodity and commodity-derivative trading, and are currently Many of our agribusiness financings involve in the process of drafting new legislation that will cross-border lending, and we have banking attor- increase the regulatory burden on participants in neys and relationships in key countries around the these markets. Our lawyers are able to assist with world, which enable us to prepare multi-jurisdic- interpreting and responding to these laws. tional credit facilities secured by assets in a broad range of countries. Recent cross-border transac- tions have involved Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, various Central and South American coun- tries and most of the countries in Europe. 4 Agribusiness Mergers & Acquisitions Government and Global Trade Mayer Brown has a leading M&A practice, regu- Using our business and legal insight, and long-standing larly advising clients based in the Americas, Asia, relationships with policymakers in capitals around the Europe and other jurisdictions around the world world, our government and global trade group helps in connection with domestic and cross-border multinational companies identify promising foreign M&A transactions. We are regularly ranked markets and develop entry strategies that overcome among the top firms in global M&A transactions, market obstacles. We work closely with bilateral, and count clients in the agribusiness sector among regional and multilateral institutions, including the our M&A client base. World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Our M&A practice represents a broad spectrum of forum and the Organization for Economic Cooperation public and private companies, private equity and and Development, to address unfair or illegal trade leveraged buy-out firms, special committees and barriers, build international business coalitions and management groups. We are particularly well promote business-friendly trade practices. known for representing Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and DAX companies in connection with their Given the challenging jurisdictions in which many strategic M&A transactions. of our commodity producer and trading organization clients operate, our regulatory lawyers regularly We routinely handle transactions ranging in size provide advice in the areas of sanctions, corruption, and complexity from multi-billion dollar, cross- money laundering and ethics. Our regulatory and border transactions to mid-size and smaller dispute resolution teams are well-versed in anti-cor- transactions within a single national or regional ruption legislation, such as the US FCPA and the UK market. Bribery Act, and can advise on systems and controls to Our lawyers represent clients in a wide variety of combat corruption and comply with the relevant transactions in this industry, including mergers legislation. They can also conduct internal investiga- and acquisitions, divestitures, management and tions into allegations of corruption. other buyouts, financings, recapitalizations, Our recent work in this area has included: reorganizations, minority investments and joint ventures. • Advising Central American poultry and sugar industries on negotiation of a free trade agreement with the European Union. • Obtaining a Presidential decree in Brazil that eliminated discriminatory tax treatment that threatened the operations of a US exporter of agricultural products. • Advising a global commodity distributor on its decision to acquire a new company with a global manufacturing operation, including assessing duty-saving opportunities under free trade agreements and duty preference programs. mayer brown 5 Representative Matters FINANCE Land O’ Lakes. Represented the administrative Agricultural Mortgage Corporation. agent in a $1.15 billion senior secured credit facility Represented the administrative agent in a $300 and pro rata private placement of notes. million financing. Mercon Coffee Corporation. Represented the Allens Inc. Represented the administrative agent administrative agent in a $240 million financing, and lead arranger in connection with a $235 million with security in various European countries and senior secured credit facility to Allens, Inc., a family- Vietnam. owned and operated vegetable packaging company. Multigrain S.A. Represented the borrower in a Bahia Specialty Cellulose. Represented the lead $500 million senior secured export finance facility. arrangers on a $470 million pre-export financing for Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Represented the the Brazilian pulp maker, Bahia Specialty Cellulose administrative agent in $900 million various term S.A. Trade & Forfaiting Review named the transac- and revolving credit facilities. tion Deal of the Year 2010 for its innovative structure which combined both pre-export financing and Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation. Represented the project financing features. administrative agent in a $1.85 billion asset based financing that was entered into in connection with California Fruit and Tomato Kitchens LLC. Pilgrim’s exit from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy Represented the administrative agent in a $50 proceeding. million credit facility. Southwest Cheese Company, LLC. Represented Camposol S.A. Represented the administrative the administrative agent in a $205 million term agent