CHO Tunisia III

hold

This project is a proposed IFC investment of US$ 25 million for a 16.5% equity holding in CHO (“CHO”, the “Company”), a leading olive oil producer, bottler, and exporter based in Tunisia and an existing IFC client (CHO Tunisia project #36202 at https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/projectDetail/ESRS/36202 in 2015, and CHO II #44266 at https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/44266/cho-tunisia-ii in 2021). These two projects, currently in supervision in IFC’s portfolio, have no pending Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) items. This portfolio client is deemed to have a satisfactory E&S performance.Since 2015 and IFC’s first financing, CHO has grown from mainly a trader of olive oil to an integrated player with over 16.5kT of bottled olive oil and more than 3,000 ha of their own planted olive trees. CHO Group operates agricultural fields of up to 3200 hectares in Tunisia and oil extraction mills with a total capacity of 2,000 tons per day in governorates of Sfax, Beja and Gafsa. As previously disclosed in conjunction with the first two investments in CHO, the company continues to source the majority of the olive oil it sells from third party suppliers. Four production plants are located in Sfax, one in Bizerte, one in Gafsa and a central laboratory for product analysis is also found in Sfax. Pomace oil extraction is undertaken in 2 sites in Kairouan and Sfax with up to 6000 tons per year capacity. The refinery in Sfax has the capacity to produce 150 tons per day. There are two production sites for cosmetics and detergents in Sfax as well as a production site for green coal heating in Sfax.Under this new investment, the Company aims to strengthen its global market position. Thus, CHO (i) has established a subsidiary in Morocco and is currently looking for local partnerships to strengthen its position in the market; (ii) will add c. 1,000ha to its plantations located in Tunisia, (iii) has the objective to reach 30kT of bottled olive oil by 2026, (iv) intends to open new exports markets (UK and Africa), and (v) rebalance its balance sheet (the “Project”).