Noble-COFCO

completed

The Project involves an IFC equity investment of about US$75 million in an investment holding company (HoldCo.) to be incorporated to house COFCO’s 51% stake in Noble Agri that it has entered into agreement to acquire. IFC would invest alongside COFCO (leading agribusiness group in China), Hopu (a Chinese private equity firm) and other international investor(s) in this leveraged HoldCo. As such, IFC would have an effective estimated 5% indirect shareholding in Noble.Noble has the following major assets: a soy crushing and biodiesel facility in Argentina; four oil seed (soy and palm oil) crushing facilities and one seed oil refinery in China; four sugar cane crushing and ethanol production facilities and 143,000 ha of sugar cane plantations in Brazil; three grain port facilities in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay and a grain and sugar port facility in Brazil; and grain silos in Argentina (4), Brazil (4), Paraguay (5), Ukraine (3), and China (1). Noble has also recently completed or been constructing: a sunflower seed crushing facility in Ukraine; a soy crushing facility in South Africa; a soy and palm crushing facility in India; and soy and biodiesel plant in Brazil. Noble’s palm oil plantations and a palm oil crushing facility in Indonesia are not included in the acquisition.Noble post COFCO acquisition is expected to continue to leverage Noble’s know-how and good management practices for the expansion of grain sourcing, processing and exporting infrastructure in Brazil and Argentina, as well as in relation to all environmental and social aspects of the projects. Therefore, the review of Noble’s E&S performance is relevant, not only as providing insight into the track record of Noble but also because it will continue to build upon Noble’s E&S resources, policies, and procedures.