Arla issues new bonds

To create a broader financing platform, Arla is giving professional investors another opportunity to invest in the company through corporate bonds. Arla has also established a Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme that will enable Arla to use bonds more actively, going forward.

Arla wishes to establish the broadest possible financing platform without compromising on the company’s ownership structure. Arla Foods is therefore now issuing bonds of a value of up to SEK 1.5 billion as a supplement to other financing sources such as shareholder consolidation, mortgage-credit bonds, bank loans, etc.

“Arla has solid backing from its owners in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, but we also have a duty to ensure that our company has the best and broadest financing platform. We have issued bonds in SEK in view of the very efficient corporate bond market in Sweden, where Arla is also a well-established name,” says Frederik Lotz, Chief Financial Officer in Arla Foods.

The bonds are listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange in SEK and have a maturity of five years. Danske Bank and SEB are lead managers for the bond issue.

More bonds in the pipeline

This is Arla’s second bond issue in the course of two years. This time, Arla has also established a Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme which enables Arla to issue bonds at very short notice in the future. Arla has registered the EMTN programme on the Irish Stock Exchange with the aim of using the bonds more actively in the future, as a source of long-term financing.

“The primary target group for this issue is institutional investors in Sweden, but the establishment of the EMTN programme paves the way for more issues in the future, and I will not rule out the possible inclusion of other markets,” says Frederik Lotz.

The bond issue does not affect Arla’s ownership structure and its 100 per cent ownership by its members, the milk producers. The issue refinances elements of Arla’s existing bank debt.