Leading Russian banana importer JFC has agreed to sell 19.9 per cent of its shares to the country’s Saint-Petersburg Bank, as part of a major financing deal to fund new fruit terminals in Moscow, Kazan, Ekaterinburg and Nizhniy Novgorod.
The company’s Andrew Semenov told Fruitnet that the construction of the four terminals would lead to the increase of JFC’s share of Russian banana market and guarantee the supply of fresh fruit to all Russian regions, in spite of the recent bankruptciesof two large suppliers – Sunway and Sorus.
He said: “We have signed a deal with the Saint-Petersburg Bank, according to which the bank purchases 19.9 per cent of shares in ZAO Gruppa JFC, which is the main operating company for JFC holding in Russia. We do not disclose the price of this deal.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the bank will also be providing JFC with a three-year loan of US$35m (€24m), which Mr Semenov said would be used as a substitution to some short-term loans in order to improve the debt structure of the company.
He added: “Prior to this deal, the relationship between JFC and the bank were rather occasional – just a US$10m (€6.8m) credit line. So the main reason for this deal for the bank is to get a new big client.”
