Boxer SA (IFC-50509)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Eswastini
  • South Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
eThekwini Municipality, Salt Rock, Kwa-Zulu-Natal
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
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
Nov 14, 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
Boxer Superstores (Pty) Ltd
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 30.00 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)
$ 470.00 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
Community Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Feb 5, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Dec 2, 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 IFC, a new distribution center (DC), Whetstone, is under construction in the eThekwini Municipality, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The DC is owned by Boxer in partnership, as a consortium, with a property developer, and the property developer oversees the construction of the DC, including permitting and regulatory compliance. Construction is estimated to be completed in August 2025. 

Boxer also operates a meat processing plant, located in Salt Rock, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, which produces ready to eat polony and sausages. Logistics is handled by a third-party company who also handle logistics for some of Boxer’s refrigerated and frozen products. Confined label brands (such as cooking oil, flour, rice, pasta, condiments, washing powder and nappies), brands owned by Boxer, are manufactured by 3rd parties. They account for approximately 600 stock keep units (“SKUs”) (within around 3000 SKUs). Confined label brands are manufactured by suppliers across 103 sites, 94 of which are in South Africa.  

The proposed Boxer IPO will comprise a sale of a 35% stake in Boxer. IFC’s proposed investment of ZAR350 million (approximately US$20m) will result in a shareholding of up to 1.4%. Boxer expects to open approximately 60 – 70 stores annually and three DCs in SA in the medium term, with a significant portion of the stores in underserved areas. Store expansion involves landlord-managed construction and renovation, including in existing malls, with Boxer-supervised contractors handling shop fitting.

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

As stated by the IFC, the proposed project is an equity investment of up to US$30 million equivalent in ZAR to participate in Boxer IPO as a cornerstone investor. The target amount to be raised by the Boxer IPO is ZAR8.0 billion (US$ 470 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.

As stated by the IFC, Boxer Superstores Pty Ltd is South Africa’s leading discount supermarket chain focused on the lower-income population and underserviced rural and peri-urban areas. The first Boxer store opened in Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa in 1977. Since 2002, Boxer has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Pick n Pay Stores Ltd, South Africa’s third-largest food retailer. 
As of September 2024, Boxer operates six distribution centers for dry goods, a meat processing factory, 300 superstores (ranging in size from 1,800 to 2,000 m²), 159 liquor stores (adjacent to superstores, with typical store sizes of 220 to 400 m²), and 30 hardware stores called Boxer Build (with typical store sizes of 410 m² and a 1,000 m² storage yard) across South Africa and Eswatini. Facilities in Eswatini are limited to nine superstores. Most facilities are leased.  

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Boxer Superstores Pty Ltd Client Industry and Trade

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: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Client - Boxer Superstores (Pty) Ltd:

Phone: +27 31 275 7000
Fax: +27 (0) 86 686 2820                                                 
Email: informationofficer@boxer.co.za
Address: 41 The Boulevard, Westend Office Park, Westville, 3610, South Africa
Website: https://www.boxer.co.za

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

How it works

How it works