BUSINESS AND OTHER SERVICES

Rahimafrooz Superstore Limited ("RSL" or the "company") is 61% owned by an IFC-portfolio private equity fund, Frontier PE Fund ("FPE"), managed by Brummer and Partners ("Brummer"). The other 39% is owned by the Rahimafrooz Bangladesh Limited ("RABL" or "the group"), one of the well-established business conglomerates in Bangladesh and a leader in battery manufacturing operations. The group also operates a distribution business for automotive and power products, an automotive Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion and maintenance company, as well as two companies that provide renewable and conventional energy solutions. RSL commenced its operations in August 2001, with one store in Dhaka, and grew slowly to four stores by 2007. With the introduction of fresh capital from new shareholders, it has since grown to become one of the leading supermarket chain in the country with 12 stores under the brand name of "Agora" with a total area of 107,221 ft2 (approximately 10,000 m2) in Financial Year (FY) 2014. Ten of these stores are in Dhaka whereas one is in Chittagong. The smallest store is Dhanmondi with an area of 40600 ft2 (approx. 372 m2) and biggest one is Japan Garden City with an area of 14826 ft2 (approx. 1377 m2). The company also has a distribution center (DC) (having an area of 30,500 ft2 or 2833 m2). Part of the space within the DC has been leased to an external agency for running the sorting and processing (S&P) center where vegetables (e.g. potatoes, onions) and spices are repacked under RSL`s "Greenfield" brand. The company has a US$20 million capital expenditure plan between FY15 and FY19 to open 11 new stores with an average area of 14,000 ft2 (approx. 1300 m2) each. In addition to the fit-out cost, the company needs to fund three years of advance rent for new store openings, renovation capex for existing stores, and working capital ("the Project"). The proposed investment is an equity investment in RSL of up to BDT424 million (~US$5.5 million) for the project.

Bangladesh