Esquire Knit Composite Limited

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Established in 1977, the Esquire Group (the “Group”) was founded through Esquire Electronics, a white goods trading and distribution business in Bangladesh. The group entered the readymade garments (RMG) business in 1993 and eventually expanded its operations through complete backward integration (knitting, dyeing & garmenting). At present, the group comprises of six stand-alone entities engaged primarily in RMG export, RMG accessories, production and sale of household plastic products, trading of electronics (sole agent for General, Sharp and Toshiba), and IBM computer sales and service.  Part of Esquire Group and established in 2001, Esquire Knit Composite Limited (“EKCL” or “the company” - http://esquireknit.com/) is a mid-sized RMG manufacturer involved in the manufacturing and export of knitted garments. The company’s operations cover the entire value chain of the knitted garments manufacturing process from knitting to dyeing, sewing and finishing. Major buyers include C&A, Best Seller, Ostin, Espirit, Mascot, Celio, Next, Tee Jays, Tchibo, and Pull & Bear. EKCL is also an IFC advisory services partner and has been involved in IFC’s Cleaner Production (CP) and Partnership for Clean Textile (PaCT) programs focusing on water efficiency for their wet processing operations. Currently, the company has two manufacturing facilities in Kanchpur, Narayanganj in Dhaka (https://goo.gl/maps/QzfgNanuJT42): (a)   Knitting, dyeing (both yarn and fabric), cutting, sewing and finishing facility – It has separate buildings for fabric and yarn processing and knitting/garmenting operations. The knitting, cutting, sewing, finishing and printing (both machine and manual screen printing) operations are located in G+12 floor building; and(b)   Cutting, sewing and finishing facility in a G+five floor building (referred to as “Unit-1”). This is located on a separate plot in an industrial area.  The existing facilities have a combined capacity of 25 million pieces per year. The investment under consideration is debt financing of $22 million for expansion of the company’s garments production capacity by setting up a new, knitted RMG manufacturing (cutting, sewing and finishing) factory in Bhaluka, 65 km north of Dhaka (“the proposed facility” or “the project”). The company has purchased a freehold industrial land plot (approximately 18 acres) adjacent to Dhaka Mymensingh highway for the proposed facility with available utility connections.  The proposed facility will have three main buildings (two G+10 floors and another G+5 floors). The company is planning to develop the facility as a Green Building as per the requirements of United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for obtaining LEED – Platinum certification. The proposed facility will have 100 sewing lines and will employ approximately 8,000 people. The proposed facility will have a RMG manufacturing capacity of 25 million pieces/year and thus bring the total capacity of EKCL up to 50 million pieces per year (a 100% increase) by 2021. Construction for the facility is expected to begin this year and commissioning by December 2021. The company also plans to establish a fabric processing facility within the same plot, however, that is currently not part of the project.