Summary of Proposed Investment
Project Number
25878
Company Name
FRANSABANK SAL
Date SPI Disclosed
Jan 29, 2007
Country
Lebanon
Industry
Financial Markets
Projected Board Date
Mar 3, 2007
Status
Completed
Sector
Commercial Banking - General
Department
Global Industry, Financial Markets
Environmental Category
FI
Previous Events
Approved : Mar 23, 2007
Signed : Jun 20, 2007
Invested : Nov 6, 2007
Project Description
The project involves IFC providing a senior corporate credit line and SME risk sharing facility to Fransabank s.a.l. (Fransabank or the Bank) of up to $50 million in total, to be on-lent to the Bank’s existing and new clients as a response to the post conflict needs in Lebanon.
This project is part of the Lebanon Rebuild Program: IFC’s first phase investment response – as part of IFC’s corporate-wide strategy – to the reconstruction needs in post-conflict Lebanon. Through this program IFC will provide investments to up to five selected banks in Lebanon, either in the form of credit lines or risk management facilities or both, in the amount of up to $200 million in aggregate.
Headquartered in Beirut - Lebanon, Fransabank was established in 1921 and is now the fifth largest private bank in terms of total assets ($4.9 billion in consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2005). It also ranks third by return on assets and cost to income and fourth by return on shareholders’ equity.
Fransabank has pursued over the past few years and achieved a strategy to become a full-service financial institution, ‘a universal bank’. The Bank provides a wide range of commercial and retail banking and related financial services primarily to Lebanese individuals and private sector companies and, increasingly, to foreign companies seeking to operate in Lebanon. The Bank also provides specialized financial services such as private and investment banking through its fully owned investment banking subsidiary, Fransa Invest Bank sal, lease financing through its subsidiary, the Lebanese Leasing Company sal, selected and very well planned insurance products through its subsidiary Bancassurance sal.
This project is part of the Lebanon Rebuild Program: IFC’s first phase investment response – as part of IFC’s corporate-wide strategy – to the reconstruction needs in post-conflict Lebanon. Through this program IFC will provide investments to up to five selected banks in Lebanon, either in the form of credit lines or risk management facilities or both, in the amount of up to $200 million in aggregate.
Headquartered in Beirut - Lebanon, Fransabank was established in 1921 and is now the fifth largest private bank in terms of total assets ($4.9 billion in consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2005). It also ranks third by return on assets and cost to income and fourth by return on shareholders’ equity.
Fransabank has pursued over the past few years and achieved a strategy to become a full-service financial institution, ‘a universal bank’. The Bank provides a wide range of commercial and retail banking and related financial services primarily to Lebanese individuals and private sector companies and, increasingly, to foreign companies seeking to operate in Lebanon. The Bank also provides specialized financial services such as private and investment banking through its fully owned investment banking subsidiary, Fransa Invest Bank sal, lease financing through its subsidiary, the Lebanese Leasing Company sal, selected and very well planned insurance products through its subsidiary Bancassurance sal.
Sponsor / Cost / Location
Development Impact
Related ESRS/ERS
Contacts
For Inquiries About the Project, Contact
Ms. Mona Khoury, Head
International Fransabank s.a.l.
P.O. Box 11-0393, Beirut, Lebanon
Telephone: (01) 340180/8
Fax: (01) 341273
International Fransabank s.a.l.
P.O. Box 11-0393, Beirut, Lebanon
Telephone: (01) 340180/8
Fax: (01) 341273
For Inquiries and Comments About IFC, Contact
General IFC Inquiries
IFC Corporate Relations
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384
E Mail: Webmaster
IFC Corporate Relations
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384
E Mail: Webmaster