M&J Garments

pending

 M&J Group (“the Group” or “the company”) is a leading denim manufacturer in Bangladesh with several global retailers as clients. The proposed investment by IFC will provide a secured long-term loan of up to $11.7 million to three of the Group’s entities, namely Columbia Washing Plant Limited (“CWPL”), Columbia Garments Limited (“CGL”) and Columbia Apparels Limited (“CAL”), (collectively the “Borrowers”). The funding is to finance expansion of the Borrowers’ existing denim production capacity and washing capacity from current 11.4 million pieces per year to 15.9 million pieces per year.  The Group’s initial focus was on milling flour in Bangladesh in 1965 and in 1989 the company opened their first garment factory. The Group is presently a leading manufacturer in Bangladesh comprised of eight companies whose activities include garment manufacturing, laundry and food products. Relative to garment manufacturing the Group’s clientele are leading international jeans brands and retailers in USA, EU, Asia and Australia. Core business activities in this sector include research and development, product design, cutting, sewing, washing, finishing and marketing of products made by their factories. While the company is a new investment client for IFC, they are an existing IFC advisory partner in both the IFC led Advisory Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) and Better Work Bangladesh (BWB) collaboration with the United Nation’s International Labour Organization (ILO). For more information about M&J Group facilities and production activities see https://www.mj-group.com/about-new/about.php. Project facilities as part of the IFC financing are located at existing brownfield operations in the Ghazipur District, a major industrial and garment hub located 25 km north of the capital city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Project activities are at the design stage, and some initial contract negotiations have commenced with equipment suppliers. The Group currently has some 74,000 m2 of production floor space at the garment hub. Columbia Washing Plant, one of the Group’s newest facilities, is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certified since 2016. The project does not require any ancillary infrastructure (e.g., access roads, transmission lines, or pipelines, etc.), nor will it have any associated facilities.