BLC Robert & Associates advised the Mandated Lead Arrangers  (MLAs) on the debt financing for the acquisition of a French owned group of companies, including JA Delmas, the current distributor of Caterpillar equipment, operating in 11 West African countries.

The acquisition closed in November 2022 and was partially financed by a syndicated facility of EUR 135,000,000, arranged by the MLAs (MCB Financial Advisers and Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire), provided to the Mauritius domiciled investment vehicle, jointly owned by Jean-Luc Konan, the founder of COFINA Group, a meso-finance institution which is recognised as a leader in western and central Africa in financing small and middle-sized companies, and Mohamed Al Bahar, the Caterpillar dealership in 5 countries in the Arabian Gulf.

The syndicate of lenders comprised of The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited, Société Générale, Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien, AfrAsia Bank Limited, Investec Bank (Mauritius) Limited, BCP Bank (Mauritius) Ltd, Ninety One SA Proprietary Limited acting as agent and portfolio manager of Ninety One Assurance Limited and Ninety One SA Proprietary Limited acting as portfolio manager of Ninety One Africa Credit Opportunities Fund 2.

The BLC Robert’s Banking & Finance team, which advised on the transaction composed of Valerie Bisasur, Partner, and Jean-Vincent Dacruz, Associate.