Soufflet LT

completed

IFC has been supporting the growth of Soufflet’s operations since 2009 and this would be IFC’s fourth project with the Group. IFC’s investment entails provision of €30 million loan to support Groupe Soufflet’s long-term investment plan of in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland (the Project Countries). An existing, strategic IFC client, Soufflet is an established mid-size global originator, trader, and processor of grains (primarily wheat and barley). In 2015, Soufflet employed 7,500 staff and reached more than 17,500 farmers in the EU and ECA regions. IFC’s current exposure to the Group amounts to ~€60 million in the form of 2 parallel revolving credit facilities committed in 2014 and that will mature in 2019. Today, the Company operates in nine countries in the ECA region, including the six that are currently financed by IFC (Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Poland). Soufflet has 9 silos and 6 malting plants in these six countries and their share represents about 15% of the grain originated by the Group, and 27% of its malt production. For this Project, Soufflet requested IFC’s support for its investment plan in 4 countries of ECA, a region where agribusiness has great potential and is a strategic priority for IFC. The Group plans to (i) expand grain origination thereby increasing its farmers’ reach; (ii) invest in grain logistics infrastructure, one of the main impediments to faster development of the agribusiness sector in ECA; and (iii) investments in capacity expansion and food safety at its ECA malting plants.