Rubber dealer gets loan

Rubber dealer gets loan

SINGAPORE (AFP): Rabobank Nederland said yesterday it had arranged a US$150 million syndicated trade finance facility here for Lewis and Peat (Rubber) Holdings Pte. Ltd., a member of Indonesia's Bakrie group.

The facility, an "innovative hybrid" combining trade financing and syndication, is the first of its kind in Singapore, the Dutch bank said.

Rabobank will act as sole financier of the entire facility, funding and controlling all future transactions for Lewis and Peat as well as financing its futures contracts.

The facility, consisting of short-term advances, overdrafts, freight financing, margin financing and letters of credit, will be used by Lewis and Peat's companies in Singapore, London and New York for their rubber trades.

Lewis and Peat is a 200-year-old rubber dealer 75 percent owned by Jakarta-listed PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantation.