AGUAS ARGENTINAS S.A. II

completed

SUMMARY OF PROJECT INFORMATION (SPI)Country/Project Name Argentina - Aguas Argentinas S.A. Aguas Argentinas is the concessionaire for the operation and management of the water and sewage system in Metropolitan Buenos Aires. Region Latin AmericaSector InfrastructureProject No. 4932Projected Board Date June 7, 1995Company Name Aguas Argentinas S.A.Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders Aguas'' main shareholders are: Lyonnaise des Eaux (25%) from France and Sociedad Comercial del Plata (19.5%) from Argentina. As part of an earlier financing package arranged for Aguas, IFC has acquired 5% of the total shares in the Company. Other shareholders are S.G. Aguas de Barcelona (Spain), Compagnie Generale des Eaux (France) and Anglian Water (UK), Meller Group (Argentina), Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires (Argentina). Also, Aguas'' employees hold 10% of the total share capital. Lyonnaise des Eaux has entered a management contract with Aguas whereby Lyonnaise will act as the operator and manager of Aguas for the life of the concession.Project Cost including proposed IFC investmentEstimated Project Cost is approximately US$600 million. IFC proposed investment consists of an A loan, for IFC''s own account, for up to US$40 million and a B loan, for the account of participants, for up to US$110 million. Location of project and Description of siteMetropolitan Buenos Aires. Description of Company and Purpose of Project Aguas Argentinas S.A. (Aguas) is the holder of a 30-years exclusive concession to provide potable water and sewerage services to Metropolitan Buenos Aires. Under the Concession Contract, Aguas is committed to an investment program of approximately US$4 billion over the concession life. Within two years of operations, Aguas has rehabilitated and expanded the potable water and sewage networks to 600,000 new customers, eliminated water shortages and increased potable water production by 25%. IFC''s investment will provide financing for Aguas'' 1996 and 1997 capital expenditure program, estimated at approximately US$600 million, for which IFC has been requested to provide US$150 million debt financing. The capital expenditure program is part of Aguas'' first five-years investment program, of approximately US$1.2 billion, and aims to continue the rehabilitation and expansion of the drinking water and sewerage system within the concession area. Environmental Categories and Issues This is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental review procedures. Environmental issues associated with the project include the disposal of sludges, water quality impacts, odor control, and the disposal of PCB''s and other types of contaminants. The project is designed to improve and extend the water supply and sewage services to the residents within the concession area. Treatment plants will improve the quality of liquid effluents discharged to the streams and rivers of the concession area. Aguas has conducted a comprehensive environmental audit on facilities and operations in the concession which addresses issues such as the disposal of sludges, water quality, odor control, the disposal of PCB''s and other types of contaminants, etc. As part of this audit, Aguas developed a program to ensure that existing operations and future capital expenditures will be in line with World Bank and Argentine health, safety and environmental guidelines. This has been reviewed by IFC''s Environment Division and found satisfactory.The Environmental Review Summary is expected to be available on or about May 18, 1995 from the Public Information Center.Date SPI sent to PIC For additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit - telephone (202) 473-7711 - facsimile: (202) 676-0365.Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).