L&F Air8 Supplier Finance (IFC-48459)

Regions
  • East Asia and Pacific
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
Jun 10, 2024
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
Air8 Pte. Ltd., Li & Fung Limited, Li & Fung (Trading) Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
  • 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)
$ 75.00 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)
$ 150.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Sep 14, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jun 27, 2024

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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 project entails a debt financing package of up to US$75 million to Air8 Pte Ltd, Li & Fung Limited (“L&F Limited”) and Li & Fung (Trading) Limited (“L&F Trading” and together with Air8 and L&F Limited, the “Borrowers”). Air8 is a supply chain finance platform that connects apparel and general merchandize suppliers primarily in developing countries with buyers. L&F and its subsidiary L&F Trading provides agency services for textiles and general merchandize buyers by helping them to find suppliers in different jurisdictions and manage the procurement process for such buyers. The Project will support the Borrowers’ expansion of service offerings to its buyers and suppliers on supply chain solutions and supply chain financing for the benefit of suppliers in developing countries in Asia.

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). Key E&S issues and potential Project impacts include the Company’s systems to assess and monitor E&S risks and impacts of M-Cs operations funded under the project, including those related to i) labor and working relations, occupational health and safety (OHS) policies and practices, ii) prevention of sexual harassment and Gender Based Violence (GBV) iii) monitoring and management of air emissions, waste and wastewater and hazardous materials, iv) life and fire safety and emergency preparedness and response; v) resource efficiency measures; and vi) stakeholder engagement activities related to E&S aspects.

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

The Project cost is estimated to be US$150 million and IFC is proposing a debt financing package of up to US$75 million. 

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.

Air8 is a supply chain finance platform that connects apparel and general merchandize suppliers primarily in developing countries with buyers. L&F and its subsidiary L&F Trading provides agency services for textiles and general merchandize buyers by helping them to find suppliers in different jurisdictions and manage the procurement process for such buyers.

The Borrowers are owned and controlled by Golden Lincoln Holdings II Limited (“GLH”). GLH is ultimately 60% controlled through voting power by Dr. William Fung and a trust set up for the benefits of the family members of Dr. Victor Fung (the “Fung Family”). By ownership, GLH is 30.14% owned by the Fung Family and 63.08% owned by GLP, a global real estate logistics provider and investment manager based in Singapore. The remaining 6.78% is owned by JD.com, a leading e-commerce platform based in China.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Air8 Pte. Ltd. Client -
- - - - Li & Fung Limited. 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.

Li & Fung Limited.
Denis Savastano
Group Treasurer and Head of IR
+852 2300 5888
denissavastano@lifung.com
7/F., Hong Kong Spinners Industrial Building, Phases I & II, 800 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong
https://www.lifung.com/ https://air8.io/

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