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Paris, France, July 2, 2010—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing financing to Vicat Sagar Cement to support the company’s plans to build the first of two phases of a dry-process greenfield cement plant in Karnataka, India that will help meet the region’s growing demand for cement.
The project will create about 600 full-time jobs during operations, an estimated 1,500 new jobs for local suppliers, and 2,500 temporary jobs during peak construction, while stimulating additional private sector growth and regional economic activity. The cement plant will use the latest technology and will have a capacity of 5.5 million tons per annum based on two clinker production lines, each with a daily capacity of 6,000 tons. The first production line of 2.75 million tons of cement is expected to be launched in 2012.
Vicat Saga, a joint venture between Vicat SA of France and Sagar Cements of India, where Vicat holds the majority ownership, will build and operate this leading- edge cement plant. IFC will provide a loan of $75 million while mobilizing commercial loans of E€55 million from Crédit Agricole CIB, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Natixis, and Société Générale, and parallel loans totaling E€75 million from three Development Financial Institutions: Proparco, DEG, and FMO. IFC, DEG, FMO, and Proparco partnered on the financing under procedures agreed to in the Master Cooperation Agreement, which was signed by these development institutions in October 2009 in Istanbul. This financing represents the first transaction in Asia to follow the Master Cooperation Agreement. IFC may invest equity of up to $15 million in Vicat Sagar.
“We are pleased to have completed the financing, with the support of all the partner financial institutions, for our Vicat Sagar greenfield cement plant in India on terms that the Vicat group considers to be favorable. The financing raised demonstrates the quality of our project and the Indian market’s very strong potential,” said Guy Sidos, Chief Executive Officer of the Vicat group.
“IFC is pleased to support the construction of the Vicat Sagar cement plant. The project will generate direct and indirect employment, and contribute to the adoption of best industry practices in terms of energy efficiency and control of emissions,” said Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC Director for Global Manufacturing and Services.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing capital for private enterprise, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Vicat
Founded in 1853, the Vicat group now operates three core business lines: cement, readymix concrete and aggregates, as well as related activities. The Vicat group is heir to an industrial tradition dating back to 1817, when Louis Vicat invented artificial cement. The group has about 6,700 employees working in three core divisions, Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, and Other Products and Services, which generated consolidated sales of €1,896 million in 2009. The group operates in 11 countries: Egypt, France, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States. Nearly 56 percent of sales are generated outside France. For more information, visit
www.vicat.com
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