|
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 23, 2014
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is arranging a $30 million syndicated loan to a leading Dubai-based water and wastewater treatment company, to help expand essential services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia.
The investment, with Bank of China, will help Metito as it develops water treatment projects across the MENA region and parts of Asia. This will increase the availability of drinking water, improve wastewater treatment infrastructure, reduce waste costs, and decrease health risks to local communities.
“With support from IFC and Bank of China, we will be able to embark on new projects, providing quality water treatment solutions in water scarce areas,” said Rami Ghandour, Metito Managing Director.
Metito is headquartered in Dubai and is active throughout the MENA region, Indonesia, and China. The company also owns and operates six wastewater treatment plants in China, with four more projects under construction.
“Access to water is a fundamental challenge to economic development and growth,” said Chunyan Cai, SEO of Bank of China Middle East (Dubai) Limited, covering the MENA area. “With this long-term investment, which is hard to obtain in challenging markets, Bank of China will help support Metito as a leading provider of essential water and wastewater management solutions in water stressed regions.”
In June 2013, IFC provided $50 million in loans to Metito and arranged another $20 million from the German development finance institution, DEG, to strengthen the company’s capital structure and support its expansion.
“This partnership demonstrates the potential for infrastructure investment in MENA, one of the most water scarce regions in the world,” said Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Water scarcity is a global concern and IFC will continue to help boost water efficiency to meet the growing demand.”
This investment is part of IFC’s wider efforts to help companies expand into emerging markets, to transfer knowledge and expertise and improve access to essential infrastructure. Metito is the first company to obtain long-term financing from Bank of China as part of the IFC B Loan program, a syndicated loan structure that introduces new banking relationships to the borrower.
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 more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
Stay Connected
About Metito
Metito is the leading provider of intelligent water management solutions in emerging markets, with operations covering three business areas: design and build, specialty chemicals, and utilities. With over 50 years of operational experience, the group provides customized, comprehensive and advanced solutions across the industry. With a mission to sustain the world’s water resources, Metito provides effective water management and treatment systems that can reconcile an ever growing water demand and dwindling natural resources. Committed to a cleaner environment, Metito uses its expertise to provide millions of people across the globe with clean and safe water. Metito is at the forefront of the water and wastewater industry with a current global project portfolio in excess of $1 billion, and over 2,500 employees. For more information, visit
www.metito.com
About Bank of China Middle East (Dubai) Limited
Bank of China Middle East (Dubai) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of China Limited, operating throughout the MENA region. Bank of China was established in February 1912. As the most internationalized and diversified bank in China, Bank of China provides a full range of financial services in China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and another 31 countries. It mainly operates a commercial banking business including corporate banking, personal banking and financial market business. It also conducts investment banking business, insurance services, fund management services, direct investment and investment management and aircraft leasing via its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Bank of China ranked eleventh in terms of core capital among the World Top 100 Banks in the British magazine The Banker in 2009. Bank of China is the only developing world institution included on the list of 29 global systemically important banks approved by the G20 summit.
|
