The project sponsor is Grupo Poma, a well established family owned business group, with business interests in automobile distribution, manufacturing, real estate, including hotels and shopping malls, across the Central American region. The Group is also actively involved in community work through the Fundacion Poma, its non-profit organization. The Group is majority owned by the Poma family of El Salvador. Grupo Poma operates its shopping mall businesses through Prisma S.A. (Panama), a trust holding the Poma family’s business interests, which fully owns International Shopping Center Holdings, Inc. (ISC). ISC presently owns 14 shopping malls in Central America with a total of about 250,000 m2 GLA. Metrocentro is 67.4% owned by ISC, 9.4% by the three strategic investors, and the remaining 23.1% is owned by about 150 individual investors.

The total project cost is estimated at approximately $54 million. The proposed IFC investment is a loan of up to $25 million for IFC’s own account.

25.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	25.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The project site is situated is the southwestern area of metropolitan San Salvador in the jurisdiction of San Salvador and Antiguo Cuscatlan municipalities. It encompasses an area of 145 ha encompassing of the basin of the La Lechuza brook that forms a part of the Acelhuate river basin between coordinates of 13o 40’ N and 89o 15’ West.

This is a category B project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects, because a limited number of specific environmental and/or social impacts may result, which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community
Metrocentro’s corporate office at: Edificio Grupo Roble Blvd. Tutunichapa costado norte de Metrocentro San Salvador, El Salvador, C.A.

The proposed IFC investment in Metrocentro will enable the following: - improvements in the urban infrastructure of the capital city in El Salvador; - better consumer choices because the clustering of competitors facilitates comparisons of offers and improves consumers knowledge resulting in higher quality goods available at lower prices for the consumer; - improvements in the quality of goods sold; - increase in standards for hygiene and safety in product handling and storage; - improvements in practices among local product suppliers, especially food and fresh products that filter through to other retail formats, including open air vendors; and - creation of more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction and operational stage. In addition, as in the Group’s previous malls, the proposed project is expected to attract other development to the area, creating a demonstration effect and contributing to the overall community development. During construction of the shopping mall, strong linkages with the construction and building supply sectors will be established. In addition, once operational, the project will stimulate use of local supplies of goods and services in El Salvador, which will represent more than 40% of the shopping mall supply. IFC’s role in Metrocentro is as follows: - Supporting a successful Central American company to expand its shopping mall business in El Salvador, by establishing Multiplaza Panamericana, a good quality shopping mall and the first of its kind in El Salvador, that would improve the infrastructure in the area where it is located as well as contribute to improvements of the living standard of target customers. - Providing long-term financing to the company that would otherwise be difficult to mobilize from local banks only. and, - Helping the company to improve its environmental standards and establish a training program targeting local retailers who would be located in the company’s malls.