Marne & Chamapagne, the second largest producer of
champagne, raised euro396 million ($383 million) through a
three-tiered bond issue secured on more that 60 million bottles of
champagne. This transaction is a pure asset-backed transaction, the
first of its type in France, directly secured by the whole of the
champagne stock, produced, stored and sold by the Marne &
Champagne group.
The most challenging aspect of this transaction has been to
devise a structure which responds to both the key features of the
champagne industry and meets market and industry requirements for
rated transactions.
Champagne is a unique product
Champagne is made from grapes grown within a very specific
geographical area northeast of Paris, representing around 30,700
hectares (75,860 acres) of vines, very close to the maximum
possible area. While champagne production has grown about 5% per
year over the past three decades, future growth is expected to be
limited by the size of the...