From AgFunder, June 19:
Olam has secured a $250 million loan requiring the company, which works extensively with smallholders in Asia and other emerging markets, to meet several sustainability-themed key performance indicators (KPIs).....MUCH MORE
The Singapore-based agribusiness will receive the capital in three tranches: a one-year credit facility of $50 million, a two-year credit facility of $100 million, and a three-year credit facility of $100 million. The identity of the lenders was not disclosed.
The amount of interest that Olam will have to pay on the loan will be determined by its achievement of several KPIs that are aimed at improving the company’s sustainability credentials. Costs could end up lower than they would for comparable conventional financing if it manages to meet its targets.
Olam said in a statement that it had identified several KPIs aligned with the three “purpose outcomes” in the company’s sustainability strategy: ‘prosperous farmers and food systems’; ‘thriving communities;’ and ‘regeneration of the living world.’ It didn’t share any more specifics on what those KPIs will be, though it did say its performance in attempting to achieve them would be independently assessed by Ernst & Young.
Managing director and group chief financial officer Neelamani Muthukumar said the sustainability KPI-linked loan represents “another step towards diversification of our funding mix.”...
