Metito was founded by Farouk Ghandour and later joined by his brother Mutaz Ghandour, two Lebanese entrepreneurs, in 1958 as the first company in the Middle East to specialize in water and wastewater treatment services. In November 2006, the Ghandour family sold 60% of Metito Holdings Limited (MHL), the parent company of Metito, to Gulf Capital PSJC, a private equity group based in the United Arab Emirates. The remaining 40% stake is held for the Ghandour Family.

Over the next three years, Metito is looking to ramp up its Industrial Concessions business and expand into water utility services to capitalize on the potential growth opportunities in the water sector in the MENA region. IFC will provide a financing package of up to $20 million A Loan and a minority equity investment in MHL to support its expansion plans in the Industrial Concessions business and utility services in MENA.

31.10 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	20.0
Equity	11.10

* These investment figures are indicative

Metito intends to target Industrial Concessions, with a focus on large tourism and mixed use real estate developments in MENA and expand its activities in the ports sector in Indonesia. Over the next few years, Metito is looking to expand into the utility services business, capitalizing on the privatization potential of public utilities across the MENA region.

Metito’s activities in the MENA region help extend water and wastewater treatment services to key income and employment generating sectors in the region’s economy, such as the tourism sector in Egypt, and the ports sector in Indonesia. By operating locally, Metito helps provide water-deprived MENA countries with low-cost water and wastewater treatment solutions to help support the economic growth in the region. Metito is also demonstrating the ability of the private sector to operate successfully in the water and sanitation sector in the MENA region, which is crucial to the region’s sustainable development.

IFC will support the MENA region’s privatization plans of the municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment sectors and help Metito in its regional expansion plans. IFC will provide Metito with long-term financing that is otherwise difficult to secure for water and wastewater projects in the MENA region. Metito has approached IFC for its in-house expertise in such water and wastewater projects and is seeking IFC’s support to improve its environmental, social and health and safety standards.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects because it may create a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts that can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines, or design criteria. Metito’s operations help extend water and wastewater treatment services in a region with limited infrastructure and fresh water resource availability. Wastewater treatment services provided by Metito help in environmental protection and enhancing public health through treatment and disposal of sewage, and reuse of treated effluent for irrigation and district cooling.

Performance standards (PS) that are applicable for this investment include:

- PS1: Social and Environmental Assessment and Management System
- PS2: Labor and Working Conditions
- PS3: Pollution Prevention and Abatement
- PS4: Community Health, Safety and Security

Because this investment will be used to support existing projects and future, but as yet, undefined projects, the principal Performance Standards to be applied to this investment are those listed above. A condition of IFC’s investment going forward will be that any and all projects undertaken shall consider all relevant social and environmental risks and impacts, including the issues identified in PS1 through PS8.

Upon successful implementation of the agreed mitigation measures, the proposed project is expected to comply with host country laws and regulations, IFC Performance Standards and applicable World Bank/IFC guidelines.