BHI Food & Beverage Group Announces $100 Million in new Financing Transactions

BHI, a full-service commercial bank, announced that its Food & Beverage Group has closed a total of $100 million in new financing transactions.  The robust volume of transactions reflects the continued expansion of BHI’s Food & Beverage Group.

For Citromax Group and Citromax International Corporation, BHI has provided a $27.5 million revolving line of credit.  Based in Carlstadt, New Jersey, Citromax is one of the world’s leading growers of lemons and a global leader in lemon oil processing.  For more than 50 years, the company has supplied essential oils, including Lemon Oil, Organic Lemon Oil and a variety of other citrus oils, Concentrated Lemon Juice and Dried Lemon Peel.

“The expert F&B team at BHI worked in close collaboration with us to complete this financing.  BHI understands our company and has demonstrated keen support of our business goals,” said Vivian Glueck, the President of Citromax. 

BHI has provided a $15 million share of a $130 million syndicated term and revolving credit facility to Flagship Premium Food Group, a global diversified food company.  Owned by the private equity firm CREO Capital Partners, Flagship serves virtually every major US retailer and markets multiple brands, including licensed and private label brands.  The company operates facilities and offices in Boise, Denver, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Moundridge, KS, and Santa Rosa, CA.

“The BHI team offered expert insight and took a personal approach to our business. We look forward to a continuing productive relationship with the bank,” said Rob Holland, Executive Chairman of Flagship and Founding Partner at CREO Capital Partners.

BHI has a $10 million participation in the acquisition financing of QBD Cooling Systems, Inc. and Minus Forty Technologies Corp. by Ronin Equity Partners.  Based in Toronto, Canada, QBD has designed, built and manufactured refrigerated merchandising solutions for the food and beverage industry for more than 40 years.  Minus Forty, based in Georgetown, Ontario, has manufactured commercial refrigerated merchandising solutions for nearly 30 years. 

“We had introduced the opportunity to BHI, which has a strong track record in these types of intricate facilities and helped bring the transaction to a successful conclusion,” said David Feierstein the Managing Partner of Ronin Equity Partners.

The BHI F&B team also closed over $50 million in recent transactions that include an upsizing of a revolving line of credit for working capital needs of a Texas-based food company; a revolving loan for a New Jersey-based importer and distributor of coconut-based specialty chemicals; and a loan facility for a chocolate distributor, also based in New Jersey, to use for working capital and to refinance existing debt.

“Our F&B group has been extremely active over the past few months.  We are very pleased to partner with these premier F&B companies, offering tailored financial solutions for the growth of their businesses.  At BHI, our goal is to provide stellar customer service and build our client relationships into the future,” said Thomas Vigna, SVP, Head of Food & Beverage at BHI.

About BHI (www.bhiusa.com)

BHI, the U.S division of Bank Hapoalim, Israel's leading financial institution, provides commercial banking solutions to middle market clients in sectors including commercial real estate, C&I, food and beverage, entertainment, apparel, healthcare and high-tech.  In addition to its New York headquarters, the bank operates U.S. Representative Offices in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey; Miami, Florida; and Los Angeles, California.