CBL Investment (IFC-46576)

Countries
  • Ghana
  • Indonesia
  • 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 6, 2025
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
CBL Investments Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
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)
Not Disclosed
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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Dec 19, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 13, 2025

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment entails three loans of up to US$40 million to CBLI, and Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL) and CBL Global Foods Limited (GFL), two wholly owned subsidiaries of CBLI, for the purpose of funding the Group’s growth plans.                  

The loan proceeds will be used for expansion plans of the Group, which include (i) acquisition of a coconut milk and desiccated coconut (DC) manufacturing plant in Sulawesi region of Indonesia; and (ii) increasing production and distribution capacity of biscuits in Ghana.                                  

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2012). The E&S risks and impacts associated with the proposed project will be limited and site-specific.

Key E&S risks and impacts for this investment  are: (i) E&S management systems to assess and manage E&S risks and impacts from CBL Group level and its subsidiaries operations and distribution networks, (ii) CBL Group-level and subsidiary’s supply chain risk assessment with sourcing of high-risks agro-commodities, such as coconuts, palm oil, cacao, sugar, etc.; (iii) emergency preparedness plan, including Life and Fire Safety; (iv) labor and working conditions and occupational health and safety (for direct and outsourced labor); (v) resource efficiency and GHG emissions; management of air emissions, noise, solid/hazardous waste, and domestic/process effluents; (vi) transport and use of security forces; (vii) stakeholder engagement and community grievance mechanism. 

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The proposed investment is a total amount of up to US$40 million in the form of a secured A loan.

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.

The CBL Group (the Group) is one of Sri Lanka’s largest food manufacturing conglomerates and produces high quality confectionary and convenient nutrition. CBL Investments Limited (CBLI) is the holding company of the CBL Group. The Group operates in 3 main food businesses – (i) confectionaries which is the Group’s largest business and includes biscuits, chocolates and cakes; (ii) packaged (convenience) foods which includes nutri-foods, cereals, soy-based products, soups, noodles and porridges in original, value added and ready to eat formats; and (iii) natural foods which includes coconut-based products (largely coconut milk), fruit products and spices for export.

 The Sponsors of the CBL Group are the Wickramasingha family (Sponsors). The Chairman is Mr. Ramya Wickramasingha, and the Group Managing Director (MD) is Ms. Sheamalee Wickramasingha. Family members of the Wickramasinghe family own the majority of the shareholding of the holding company CBLI. CBL and GFL are each wholly owned subsidiaries of CBLI. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - CBL Investments Limited Client -
- - - - Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL) 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.

Ceylon Biscuits Limited
Mahesh Semage
Head of Group Corporate Finance
+94 77 8011304
maheshs.cblcs@cbllk.com
No.555, High-Level Road, Makumbura, Pannipitiya, 10230 Sri Lanka
www.cbllk.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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How it works