IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a debt financing package to Hikma Pharmaceuticals to help ensure smooth deliveries of medicines across the Middle East and North Africa amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $200 million package is part of IFC’s $8 billion fast-track COVID-19 facility that is being used to help existing clients address the operational and financial impact of the pandemic. Leveraging its support via financial intermediaries and directly to corporate clients, the facility aims to help sustain jobs and continued economic activity during the pandemic and beyond.
The financing to IFC’s long-term client Hikma, the region’s leading pharmaceutical company, comprises a loan of up to $150 million from IFC’s own account and a trust loan of up to $50 million in IFC’s capacity as implementing entity for the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio program (MCPP). It will help address Hikma’s working capital needs, as economies come under increasing strain during the pandemic, and fund its capital expenditures over the next two years.
“We are pleased to continue this partnership with IFC. Hikma is committed to delivering essential medicines to our customers and their patients during this critical time,” said Khalid Nabilsi, Hikma’s Chief Financial Officer. “IFC’s financing will help us maintain this momentum and will be used for general corporate purposes that support our strategic growth plans.”
Beatrice Maser, IFC’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “IFC has substantial experience with rapid crisis-response efforts and programs aimed at large-scale investing to sustain companies in the region when commercial financing is often strained. We are proud to support Hikma to ensure an uninterrupted supply of critical goods, supplies and equipment, and to support continued employment in this difficult period.”
IFC’s long-term financing will also support Hikma in the development and introduction of new generic medicines for markets in the Middle East and North Africa.
