São Paulo, June 27, 2017
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing $90 million of long-term financing to São Martinho, one of the largest sugarcane processors and biomass cogeneration producers in Brazil. This investment will contribute to the growth of the sugar and ethanol industry and help to further develop the renewable energy production in the country.
IFC’s financing package to São Martinho includes an eight-year $60 million loan from IFC’s own account and a five-year $30 million loan mobilized from ABN-Amro. The proceeds of the loan will be used by São Martinho to carry out its investment program in order to improve and maintain agricultural and industrial efficiencies through the latest technologies and innovations, as well as financing of its working capital needs.
“We are pleased this financing will start what we want to be long-term partnership with IFC,”
said Felipe Vicchiato, São Martinho’s Chief Financial Officer
. “IFC conducted a comprehensive due diligence process at environmental, health, safety and social levels in the company. We believe this is a testimony of São Martinho’s best practices in these areas and will allow us to further diversify our funding sources with a competitive cost.”
“IFC works with our clients to make sustainability a business driver. Together, we are helping transform markets by defining principles of sustainable production for a variety of commodities and improving the standards for their production, processing and trading,” said
Luiz Daniel de Campos, Principal Investment Officer, Agribusiness Department, IFC Brazil
. “Our partnership with São Martinho will help promote the growth of the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors, while also encouraging the enhancement of the overall sustainability standards of the sugar and ethanol industry in the country,” he added.
IFC promotes inclusive economic development in agribusiness by financing its complete value chain. In the fiscal year ended in June 2016, IFC invested globally $3.4 billion in the entire agribusiness production chain in order to help increase production liquidity, improve logistics, and expand access to credit for small farmers. In that same fiscal year, IFC’s global portfolio in agribusiness totaled $4.9 billion. In the past five years, IFC invested over $740 million in the agribusiness and food sectors in Brazil alone.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In FY16, we delivered a record $19 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to help end poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About São Martinho
Founded in the 1930’s by the Ometto family, Sao Martinho is currently the fourth largest sugarcane processor in Brazil with 20 million tons of cane crushed in 2016/2017 crop season. Sao Martinho currently operates three sugar mills in the state of Sao Paulo and one mill in the state of Goias with a total capacity to process 24 million tons of sugarcane annually. Sao Martinho is listed in the São Paulo stock exchange under the Novo Mercado segment, the segment with highest corporate governance standards.
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