Beximco seeks to reopen factories with $23m investment

Beximco Group is seeking government approval for a new leasing model to partially reopen its closed factory operations with investment from British and Chinese firms, according to officials.

British firm Charter HCP Ltd and Chinese company Besting Ltd plan to invest $23 million to partially restart Prefix Fashions Ltd at Beximco’s industrial park in Gazipur under the proposed leasing arrangement.

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Khalid Shahrior, senior general manager of Beximco’s Textiles and Apparel Division, and Huda Mohammed Faisal, CEO of Revival Global, which is acting as an asset manager for the two investors, confirmed the development to The Daily Star in a group phone call recently.

Beximco officials are scheduled to meet the chairman of Invest Bangladesh, the country’s apex investment facilitation agency, on October 11 to discuss the proposed business model, Khalid said.

If approved, the plan is to restart the factory in April next year, primarily producing export-oriented jackets, he said. About 90 percent of its production would be jackets, with the remaining 10 percent comprising other products.

Prefix Fashions, one of 16 textile and garment units inside the Beximco Industrial Park in Kashimpur, Gazipur, has been a joint venture with Besting since its inception, according to Khalid.

The factory will initially employ around 2,500 workers if the plan succeeds, according to the officials.

Under the proposed model, the foreign investors would sign a five-year agreement with Beximco Group. Loan repayments would be made directly from the factory’s export proceeds through the banks holding liens over the assets, according to Khalid and Huda.

The arrangement is intended to prevent Beximco from interfering with the repayment process, as the banks would automatically deduct the agreed amount from the export receipts.

The investors expect the factory to ship garments, particularly jackets, worth around $500 million within two to three years. Besting’s position as an international clothing retailer and brand would help generate orders, Khalid said.

If the government approves the plan, Beximco will comply with environmental, social and legal requirements for reopening the factory, he added.

The proposed leasing or profit-sharing model would require approval from Invest Bangladesh and Bangladesh Bank.

If the model proves successful, Beximco plans to reopen the other 15 shut units at the industrial park in phases. The move could create jobs for more than 30,000 workers who lost employment following the closure of the factories, officials estimate.

Revival Group, a Japanese-Bangladeshi venture, has been working with Beximco on plans to restart its shuttered textile operations. The firm was previously involved in a proposed lease arrangement to restart Beximco’s wider textile operations, under which it planned to invest $20 million with US-based Ecomilli.

Beximco has been struggling with a massive debt burden. Its total bank debt stands at more than Tk 40,000 crore, including Tk 29,925 crore against 32 factories at the Beximco Industrial Park, according to media reports.

Janata Bank alone is reportedly owed Tk 23,285.42 crore.

Beximco’s factories, owned by Salman F Rahman, former private industry and investment adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, faced disruption after the fall of the Awami League government amid a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, when some of the factories were vandalised and set on fire.

Salman remains incarcerated following his arrest in August 2024, when he was caught trying to flee Dhaka through Sadarghat.

The interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus subsequently announced the closure of all 16 units in March 2025 after the group failed to pay workers’ wages and dues. The government had earlier provided Tk 526 crore to pay workers’ wages and other dues.

Nahian Rahman Rochi, a member of Invest Bangladesh, told The Daily Star that the government would be able to guide Beximco on the proposal after holding a meeting with Revival and discussing the issue in detail.