BLS Equity (IFC-49140)

Countries
  • Morocco
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
Jul 19, 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
Building Logistics S.A
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)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 36.00 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)
$ 210.00 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 Jul 24, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 3, 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 proposed transaction is an equity investment of up to US$36 million in primary common shares of Building Logistics S.A (“BLS” or “the Company”). BLS is a logistics service provider in Morocco and a subsidiary of H&S Invest Holding, a diversified family-owned holding company operating in FMCG, logistics, pharmaceuticals, media communication and real estate. The Company has ambitious growth plans to become a leading third-party logistics (“3PL”) services provider in the country. IFC’s proposed investment will be used to finance BLS growth investments consisting of (i) bolt-on acquisitions of identified logistics service providers, warehouse facilities and other facilities for the group in Morocco, and (ii) a capex plan to expand BLS’ existing warehouse facilities and construct greenfield warehouse facilities and logistics platforms in various large cities of the country (the “Project”).

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 because BLS’ business activities have limited adverse E&S risks or impacts that are few in number, generally sitespecific, largely reversible, and readily avoided by implementing mitigation measures.

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

The total Project cost is approximately US$210 million. IFC is considering an equity investment of up to US$36 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.

BLS is majority owned (79.7%) by H&S Invest Holding (H&S), a diversified family-owned holding company founded in 2005 by Moncef Belkhayat (a Moroccan entrepreneur) and operating in FMCG, logistics, pharmaceuticals, media & communication, and real estate. STOA, an impact investment fund created in 2017 by Caisse des Dépôts and the Agence Française de Développement invested in BLS in 2023 and currently owns a minority stake (20.3%) in the Company.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Building Logistics S.A. 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.

Building Logistics S.A.
Anas Moutaoukil
Director Operations
+212 660596596
a.moutaoukil@logistics-bls.com
Zone Industrielle Ouled Saleh, Bouskoura, Casablanca 20100
https://www.logistics-bls.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