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Santiago, Chile / Washington, DC, October 22, 2014
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will commit up to $15 million to subscribe new shares in Copeval in Chile to support the company’s expansion and promote access to financing to more than 36,000 farmers in the country.
This is IFC’s second investment in Copeval. On April, 2014 IFC subscribed $45 Million in a securitized bond. LarrainVial, one of the largest financial intermediation and advisory firms in Latin America based in Chile, acted as financial advisor of Copeval in this transaction.
Copeval is Chile’s leading agricultural input distributor, providing training, certification services, technical support and pre-harvest financing. It reaches farmers through its 27 branches spread across the country’s agricultural regions.
“IFC’s commitment to subscribe new shares in Copeval shows the confidence of such prestigious financial institution in our company, focused on developing sustainable agribusiness in Chile”, said Gonzalo Martino, Chairman of Copeval. “Today we are strengthening our long-term partnership between Copeval and IFC, which will benefit the agribusiness sector in Chile, farmers and our shareholders."
Agriculture is the second largest activity in terms of GDP’s share in Chile with over 90% of the producers being farmers and SMEs. Yet, farmers and SMEs operating in frontier and less developed rural regions have few alternatives for technical assistance and financial support, a gap that Copeval has been helping to address.
Oscar Chemerinski, IFC’s Director for Agribusiness noted: “With this new investment, IFC confirms its commitment to support access to finance for farmers in Chile, which is essential for promoting the growth of the agribusiness sector. Agribusiness is expected to be one of the most dynamic sectors in Chile in the next few years, as the country strengthens its position as global food supplier in the context of increasing food demand. Copeval is an important player in helping achieve these objectives.”
IFC’s strategy in Chile focuses on promoting sustainable investments in key sectors of the economy which contribute to job creation, expansion of services and to a more equitable growth. These sectors include agribusiness, tertiary education and vocational training, infrastructure, energy, and financial services that meet the needs of SMEs and low-income groups. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2014, IFC’s portfolio in Chile – both on its own account and mobilized from third parties-, amounted to more than $1 billion. For more information about IFC in Latin America and the Caribbean, visit:
www.ifc.org/lac
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About Copeval
Copeval is Chile’s leading agricultural input distributor, providing training, certification services, technical support and pre-harvest financing. It reaches farmers through its 27 branches spread across the country’s agricultural regions. Copeval also sponsors programs to support small farmers in enhancing productivity, handling pesticides and treatment of plagues and diseases, implementation of smarter irrigation services and programs encouraging the integration of small producers into the agro-industrial global chain. For more information, visit:
www.copeval.cl
About LarrainVial
LarrainVial is one of the leading financial companies in the Andean Region, with presence in Chile, Peru, Colombia and the U.S. With over 80 years of experience and more than 850 employees, LarrainVial offers brokerage services, corporate finance, research, third-party product distribution, asset management, wealth management and private equity. The company has over USD 18 billion in assets under management and leads the Chilean equity market, with a 17.7% market share in the Santiago Stock Exchange and the Electronic Stock Exchange as of September 2014. For more information, visit:
www.larrainvial.com
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