JKH Services (IFC-42596)

Countries
  • Maldives
  • Sri Lanka
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 19, 2020
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
John Keells Holdings PLC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Construction
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 125.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 175.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Jul 14, 2020

Disclosed by Bank Jul 9, 2020

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the bank's website, "The proposed facility of US$175 million USD Senior Secured Loan to JKH (the Project”) is to fund the following investments in an optimum manner: (i) the expansion of its supermarket chain, (ii) the completion/expansion/refurbishment/ expansion of hotel properties in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and (iii) general corporate uses associated with JKH’s retail and leisure businesses.

At the time of the appraisal, the refurbishment was ongoing at the following resorts and thus they were covered in the scope:

  • Hakurra Hurra, Maldives (80 rooms to 100 rooms): construction of 20 rooms on the neighboring islands (now total 100 rooms), new over-water villas, changes in the beach facing rooms, addition of new guest facilities (i.e. pool bar, swimming pool and restaurant). Also, seagrass removal and maintenance dredging of channel and mooring area was undertaken. During the appraisal, the furnishing-finishing operations for the rooms/other facilities and equipment installation was ongoing.
  • Cinnamon Bentota Beach, Sri Lanka (… to 151 rooms): Construction of the three new buildings for guest rooms and a new restaurant, and refurbishment of the main building (leading to reduction in number of rooms). During the appraisal, the finishing operations were ongoing.
  • Cinnamon Dhonveli, Maldives (148 rooms to 152 rooms): This hotel was only partially closed for refurbishment. Overall, 4-5 new rooms, new arrival jetty and pavilion, new restaurant and bars have been added. During the appraisal, the finishing operations were ongoing.

The refurbishment of Bentota Beach and Maldives resorts and is completed and refurbished hotels are operational since Dec 2019. The other hotels covered in the appraisal were Trinco Blu and Cinnamon Citadel in Sri Lanka."

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

According to IFC, "JKH has over 70 subsidiaries of which eight subsidiaries, namely Asian Hotels and Properties PLC, Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, Keells Food Products PLC, John Keells PLC, John Keells Hotels PLC, Tea Smallholder Factories PLC (management control), Trans Asia Hotels PLC and Union Assurance PLC, are also listed on the Colombo stock exchange. JKH has a broad shareholding, of which 99.2 % is free float."

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - John Keells Holdings PLC Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

John Keells Holdings PLC
Ms Nisreen Remanjee, Executive Vice President
+94 718 440117
nisreen.jkh@keells.com
117, Sir Chittampalam A. Gardiner, Mawatha, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka
https://www.keells.com/ 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/

How it works

How it works