Antara Holdings (Asia) Ltd, an entity incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is the sole owner of Antara (Vietnam), a single member limited liability company under the law of Vietnam. Antara (Vietnam) is the operating entity authorized to carry out cold chain logistics activities. The main shareholders of Antara Holdings (Asia) Ltd are Preferred Freezer Services, Inc, a leading US operator of full service refrigerated warehouses, and Antara Holdings Company Limited, company controlled Mr. Winston Barrie, a US citizen with 27 years of Asian business experience.

Total project cost for the Ho Chi Minh City facility is estimated at $28 million. The proposed IFC investments include an equity investment of $1 million and an A loan of up to $7.0 million as well as a syndicated B loan of up to $7.0 million.

1.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	1.0

* These investment figures are indicative

The project is located in Phu Thuan Ward, District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City, next to Phu My Bridge (under construction) and adjacent to Lotus Port. The land being used for the project is vacant non-agrarian land that is zoned for industrial uses.

The proposed project will help strengthen local supply chains, contributing to the development of the warehousing and logistics industry in Vietnam, benefiting both suppliers and retailers of seafood and a broad range of other products, facilitating the flow of products to the consumers and improving their availability and prices. The project will result in more efficient distribution of consumer goods for seafood and frozen food sectors, decreasing the spoilage rate and eventually decreasing distribution costs. The project will also give local businesses an opportunity to increasingly outsource their logistics services rather than operate in-house cold storage facilities, lowering their business inventory costs and working capital requirements, thus improving their efficiency and allowing companies to realize economies of scale in cargo storage, handling and transportation. A presence of a strong and competent logistics operator in Vietnam would support the growing seafood industry and allow Vietnam to target more quality-oriented markets, benefiting both local economy and consumers. It will also help to promote better standards among other cold storage providers competing in this market that will in turn facilitate the integration of Vietnam to the WTO. As a greenfield project, Antara will create new jobs at the cold storage warehouse itself and also indirectly by increasing the level of business activity and thus creating jobs in other related sectors such as seafood processing, fast food retailers, construction, and transportation.

IFC’s role and additionality in this project includes: - provision of financing adequate to the needs of the client, otherwise unavailable on comparable terms including a project finance structure and long tenors of the proposed loan facilities; - introduction of the project to a broader universe of foreign investors by marketing and mobilizing the proposed B loan; - assistance to the project in enhancing its environmental and social standards; - provision of a “stamp of approval” for the project and the sponsor that can help attract private investment capital for cold storage and logistics projects in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia.

This is a category B project according to IFC’s environmental and social review procedure.

The following potential environmental and social impacts of the project have been identified:

-Environmental and social management system;
- Site selection, land acquisition and management of construction activities;
- Controls on transport, storage and sale of authorized goods;
- Labor and working conditions;
- Food safety and packaging;
- Life and fire safety;
- Emissions to the environment;
- Energy Efficiency;
- Solid and hazardous waste management;
- Emergency preparedness;
- Community and occupational health and safety.

IFC’s preliminary environmental and social review of available project information indicates that the investment will have impacts that must be managed in a manner consistent with the following Performance Standards:

- Social and Environmental Assessment and Management;
- Labor and Working Conditions;
- Pollution Prevention and Abatement;
- Community Health, Safety and Security;
- Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement.

The company will ensure that the proposed project will comply with the environmental and social requirements – Vietnamese laws and regulations and IFC’s Performance Standards. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the Sponsor is summarized in the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) and Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP).