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MTL - Mercantile Bank Holdings Limited - Voluntary business update Mercantile Bank Holdings Limited (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Registration Number 1989/000164/06) Share code: MTL ISIN: ZAE000064721 ("Mercantile" or "the company") VOLUNTARY BUSINESS UPDATE IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is mobilising an equivalent of up to 50 million Euros in South African Rand financing for Mercantile to help it increase its lending to smaller businesses, including financing energy efficient and renewable energy projects to reduce CO2 emissions and energy costs. The investment consists of a loan of up to Euro48.4 million from IFC`s own account and a second loan of up to Euro1.6 million from the World Bank- administered Clean Technology Fund. The investment will help South African SMEs more easily obtain the funds they need to grow, supporting the long-term development of the sector. IFC`s financing in South African Rand will reduce risk for the smaller businesses by enabling access to long-term local currency funding to spur economic development. Dave Brown, CEO of Mercantile Bank said, "This partnership funding will enhance our capacity to grow our presence in supporting the development of private business in South Africa and open up opportunities to finance energy efficient projects" ' Thierry Tanoh, IFC`s Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, said, "IFC`s investment in Mercantile Bank highlights our ongoing commitment to the small and medium-sized business sector in South Africa and across the continent. Our partnership with Mercantile Bank will help more enterprising Africans to obtain loans to expand their operations and to finance energy efficient projects." Supporting the growth of small and medium sized enterprises is a top strategic priority of IFC`s work in Africa, where smaller businesses employ the bulk of the working population but often struggle to obtain long-term financing. The investment in Mercantile will also support South Africa`s efforts to reduce its CO2 emissions, by making funds available to businesses seeking to adapt renewable energy or more energy efficient technologies. In fiscal year 2010, more than $1.64 billion of IFC`s global investments went to finance renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other climate related business, up from $1.03 billion in fiscal year 2009. About IFC IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We do so by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential services, by mobilizing capital from others, and by delivering advisory services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.ifc.org. Johannesburg 30 June 2011 Sponsor to Mercantile: Bridge Capital Advisors (Proprietary) Limited Date: 30/06/2011 17:32:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.
