Ynna Asment

Summary of Proposed Investment

This Summary of Proposed Investment is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of the IFC Board of Directors’ consideration of the proposed transaction. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities, and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board decision. Board dates are estimates only.

Project number	26955
Company name	Ynna Holding
Country	Morocco
Sector	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
Environmental category	A
Department	Global Manufacturing & Services
Status	Pending Approval

Date SPI disclosed	October 29, 2008
Projected board date	December 29, 2008

View Environmental & Social Review Summary (ESRS), click here

Overview

Sponsor/Cost/Location

Development Impact

Contacts

Attachments

Project description

Ynna Asment (the “Company”), a newly created company sponsored by Ynna Holding (the “Sponsor” or “the Holding”), one of Morocco’s leading private sector industrial conglomerates, is planning to construct a greenfield, integrated cement plant with a production capacity of 2 million tons per annum (mtpa) in the Settat region in Morocco (the “Project”). Ynna Holding is a significant player in the Moroccan real estate sector, with a focus on social housing and tourism. The Holding is in the process of diversifying its portfolio of activities and sees cement manufacturing as a natural step given its existing businesses.

Project sponsor and major shareholders of project company

Ynna Holding, also known as the Chaabi Group, is a family-owned private sector conglomerate which is controlled and managed by the Chaabi family, with Mr. Miloud Chaabi being the Holding’s founder. The conglomerate, founded in 1948, reports in 2007, aggregate revenues of EUR 670 million, total employment of 18,000 staff and over 48 affiliated companies in Morocco, in addition to business interests in Egypt, GCC, Tunisia, Jordan and Sub-Saharan Africa. Today the Holding is active in the following sectors/sub-sectors: (i) real estate; (ii) construction & building materials; (iii) paper and packaging; (iv) chemicals; (v) metals; (vi) tourism; (vii) retail and (viii) agribusiness. The Holding’s strategy seems to be crystallizing around three major sectors: (a) real estate and building materials; (b) industry, in particular chemicals and steel; and (c) tourism (hotels) and retail.

Total project cost and amount and nature of IFC's investment

The project is estimated to cost approximately EUR 327 million and will to be funded with a debt to equity ratio of 60:40. IFC is considering a financing package consisting of a Partial Credit Guarantee (“PCG”) of up to 50% of the local debt financing and an equity investment of up to 19% of the share capital. The remaining equity is expected to be provided by the Sponsor while the debt is expected to come from local relationship banks in local currency.

Location of project and description of site

The project will be implemented in rural commune of Ouled Sghier, urban municipality of Guisser in the Settat province in Morocco. The plant site is 50 hectares. It is part of a collective land holding and has been purchased by Ynna Asment through a transfer process managed by the Government at a price valued by a Governmental Commission based on comparable private land sales. The limestone deposit bordering the plant site has a total area of over 670ha, of which 300ha have been obtained for a first phase of exploitation from the same collective land group, who will receive a monthly rent based on quarry productivity.

Anticipated development impact of the project

The project will have a strong development impact by providing more affordable cement to support the growth in construction, housing and infrastructure sectors in Morocco.

In particular, it will:

- assist the entrance of a new local player to a market which has relatively high entry barriers;
- stimulate competition which is expected to make cement prices more competitive and beneficial to the consumers;
- support much-needed diversification of the country’s sources of economic growth away from agribusiness sector by investing in a non-agribusiness sector;
- create 200 direct jobs including 160 in the plant, 40 jobs in the quarry (either direct or subcontracted), more than 100 subcontracted jobs and 200 seasonal jobs in an area where the average unemployment rate is high at about 15%; and
introduce best-practice environmental and social standards.

IFC's expected development contribution

IFC is expected to play a significant role in this project by assisting a local company as it enters the cement sector in a country that has been traditionally oligopolistic and dominated by international players. IFC has been sharing its global cement expertise and experience with the sponsor during the preparation phase of the project and the latter has expressed a strong interest in IFC continuing doing so as the Project progresses. IFC's investment, both as a shareholder and guarantor, is expected to provide added value to this Project. IFC Partial Credit Guarantee will improve Ynna Holding’s access to long term financing as it is currently reaching is exposure limits with its local banks. Furthermore, IFC will support the company in establishing local environmental and social practices consistent with the IFC Performance Standards.

Environmental and social issues - Category A

This is a Category A project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects. Please refer to the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) and the associated Environmental and Social Action Plan. Key issues reviewed during appraisal include:

- assessment and management of environmental and social impacts associated with construction and operation of the plant and the quarries, including their rehabilitation;
- labor and working conditions, including provision of a safe working conditions for direct and contracted employees;
- management of air emissions, noise, water use, process effluents to the environment and stormwater runoff from plant and the quarries, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions, and carrying capacity of the local environment;
- project affected community safety and impacts from Project’s construction and operations, and community engagement;
- land acquisition process for both plant and quarries.

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