For many centuries, bread has been an important necessity of life worldwide. The Kaak Group connects the traditional craft of bread baking with modern industrial bakery technology. This way, the group supports customers with a complete range of products and services and a unique concept of full service. The Kaak Group is a family-owned company operating in Europe, Brazil, Asia and Australia.
What was your funding challenge?
Koos Frowein, chief financial officer: "In our line of business, a guarantee line is required as soon as our customer makes the first payment. Because we are growing and therefore attract more customers we needed a bigger guarantee line. Several years ago, the Kaak Group had a difficult time, but figures have been strong in more recent years. This is why we were eager to expand our financing on market terms, including a low interest rate. On the one hand, we need this funding to grow. On the other hand, we want to remain future-proof. Moreover, we didn't want to go to a lender every year, so we preferred a financing solution covering at least four years."
What can you tell about your collaboration with ICC Consultants?
"We are very satisfied with ICC's consultants. The collaboration gave us an insight into what is common in the market. In addition, ICC Consultants had a very good understanding of the Kaak Group as a medium-sized family business. Consultants Joost Clijsen and Marc van Dijk are pragmatic, flexible and have a great deal of expertise. By working with ICC's consultants, we were able to put more pressure on lenders, banks took us far more seriously because the proposals were well prepared and objective."
"Through thorough preparation and well-prepared bank negotiations, we got the most out of it! A 40 million guarantee line with a low interest rate and a 4-year commitment. Without the expertise of Joost and Marc, we would have gotten a higher interest rate, less commitment and a lower guarantee amount."
Strategic partnership
Kaak Group continues to cooperate with ICC by having ICC perform a risk profile update every year. This ensures that credit margins, given collateral and other financing terms remain favourable and current against prevalent benchmarks in the financing market.
