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 a majority stake of Metito Holdings Limited (“MHL”), the parent company of Metito, to Gulf Capital PSJC, a private equity group based in the United Arab Emirates. In October 2007, IFC purchased a 7.37% equity stake in MHL. The current shareholding structure is: 56.4% Gulf Capital, 37.6% the Ghandour Family and 6% IFC.

Over the short term, Metito is looking to ramp up its concessions business to capitalize on the potential growth opportunities in the water sector in the MENA region and its new market in China. MUL is looking to invest up to $260 million. IFC will provide a preferred equity investment of up to $20 million in MUL to support its expected growth in the concessions business in MENA, China and other potential geographic locations.

20.0 million (USD)

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

* These investment figures are indicative

MUL is headquartered in Dubai and is currently active throughout the MENA region and more particularly in Egypt. MUL also has small-sized concessions in Indonesia, and owns a majority stake in a company that owns and operates two large wastewater treatment plants in China. Metito intends to continue to target projects mainly in the MENA region and in China.

Metito's activities in the MENA region and China help to 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, the ports sector in Indonesia and the rapidly growing Chinese market. Metito's focus in the MENA region and China is targeting some of the most water-deprived areas in the world with low-cost water and wastewater treatment solutions to help support economic growth. Metito is also demonstrating the ability of the private sector to operate successfully in the water and sanitation sector in the MENA region and China, which is crucial to sustainable development, and increasing competition in the sector so that other investors might be induced to follow suit.

IFC will bring fresh capital to support Metito, an existing client, to continue growing. It is also expected that IFC will contribute to the mobilization of another $20 million in preferred shares from at least one other investor, funds that are often challenging to secure for water and wastewater projects. IFC will also provide its in-house expertise in water and wastewater projects and help Metito to manage regulatory risk especially in such markets as China. Finally, IFC will continue to support Metito to maintain strong 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. Metito has provided information on its current practices and policies that seek to address environmental and social risks and impacts to ensure that the proposed project complies with or, will upon implementation of measures agreed upon as part of IFC’s Investment documents, comply with host country laws and regulations and IFC''s Performance Standards (PS). The principal environmental and social risks identified for the project which will require additional mitigation measures by Metito include implementation of a comprehensive environmental and social management system, oversight of subcontracted labor, occupational health and safety, emissions to the environment, emergency response, land acquisition and community engagement. The Company will continue to ensure that IFC environmental and social Performance Standards are implemented consistently as part of the applicable legal and other requirements in its management system, including formal procedures for environmental and social screening of business opportunities and new projects into its marketing strategy, commercial planning, and project bidding processes.

IFC’s review of this investment included visits to two existing concessions in China and meetings with key management personnel at Metito, MUL’s two partnerships with Berlinwasser International, including human resources, operational managers and support staff. As Metito is an existing client, IFC also assessed Metito’s performance to date, based on the Annual E&S Monitoring Reports (AMRs) the Company has submitted, the most recent of which was received in March 2010. A detailed description of IFC’s environmental and social due diligence of this investment can be found in the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) and associated Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP), which are also available on IFC’s website at http://www.ifc.org/projects.