Westfalia FIL (IFC-46423)

Countries
  • China
  • Colombia
  • India
  • Italy
  • Kenya
  • Mexico
  • Mozambique
  • Peru
  • South Africa
  • Spain
  • Tanzania
  • United States of America
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
Dec 21, 2022
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
WESTFALIA FRUIT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • 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)
$ 100.00 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)
$ 300.00 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 Mar 2, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Feb 21, 2023

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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.

IFC’s proposed investment is up to US$100 million to participate in a broader US$300 million syndicated secured revolving credit facility to Westfalia Fruit International Limited. The Company grows, sources, ripens, packs, processes and markets sustainably grown avocados all year round, and is a leading multinational supplier of fresh subtropical fruits and related processed products to Asia, Europe, the UK and the US.

The proposed investment will support the Company’s US$300 million investment program comprising the following components: (i) investments in new facilities and in new markets such as China, India, Italy, Kenya, Spain, Tanzania and the US, with the investments in countries such as Italy, Spain and the US being part of the push-pull strategy to service production in developing countries; (ii) expansion of existing facilities mainly in Europe, South Africa and South America; (iii) expansion and maintenance of orchards and nurseries in key primary production areas (Colombia, India, Mozambique, South Africa, Mexico and Peru); and (iv) working capital.

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.

From the IFC's website:

The Company is a subsidiary of Hans Merensky Holdings (Proprietary) Limited (HMH), an existing IFC client (IFC/R2012-0367). HMH is a South African vertically integrated fruit and forestry business with a global footprint that is involved in farming, processing, and marketing of timber and fruits. HMH is owned by the Hans Merensky Foundation (40.02 percent), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa (29.7 percent) and IFC (20 percent). The remaining shareholders are three Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) organizations namely Vuka Forestry Holdings (Vuka) (4.03 percent), Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (3.30 percent), and HMH Employee Share Ownership Plan (2.95 percent).

HMH fully owns Westfalia Fruit (Pty) Ltd, which in turn owns 67.8% stake in WFIL. Other WFIL shareholders are: Caltha LLC (formerly Harvard University Foundation) (21.6%) and Inversiones Agroindustriales Limitada (10.6%).

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Hans Merensky Holdings (Pty) Ltd Parent Company Finance
- - - - Westfalia Fruit International Limited Client Agriculture and Forestry

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.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

Client - Westfalia Fruit International Limited:

Rian du Toit - Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +44 7471 353190
Email: rian.dutoit@westfaliafruit.com
Address: St Johns House, 37-41 Spital Street, Dartford, Kent DA1 2DR, United Kingdom
Website: www.westfaliafruit.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

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

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