Belize Sugar Industries Limited

repaid

The proposed transaction consists of a financing facility of up to US$15 million to be provided to Belize Sugar Industries (BSI), incorporating (i) a US$10 million senior secured loan with a tenor of up to six years, including a 1-year grace period and, (ii) a US$5 million uncommitted line of credit with a tenor of up to 3 years with annual disbursements and clean-ups (the "Loan"). The Loan will finance (i) the investment required to switch from producing mostly raw sugars to producing more direct-consumption (DC) sugars and, (ii) working capital needs of the company (the “Project”). The investment plan will mitigate the drop of raw sugar prices in the European Union (EU), BSI’s main export market, to around international sugar prices due to the lifting of quota restrictions on domestic beet production in October 2017. The Project will allow BSI to produce and market products at higher prices, to be sold in Europe and other international markets, mainly through related companies with ample distribution and commercialization networks. The higher prices of sugar received will also be transferred as an economic benefit to BSI’s supply chain, small and medium-sized sugarcane farmers.BSI, established in 1963, and controlled by ASR Group International, Inc. (ASR) since 2012, is the main sugar mill and sugar exporter of Belize. In addition, BSI also owns and operates a 31.5 MW cogeneration energy power plant (Belcogen) for auto-consumption and sale of energy to the national public grid, providing around 15% of the country’s energy needs. In 2017, BSI milled 1.3 million tons of sugarcane and produced 144,000 tons of sugar, 40,000 tons of molasses and 70,000 MWh of energy.