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Moscow, Russian Federation, August 8, 2011
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, have together raised $250 million for Russia’s Credit Europe Bank (CEB), including $150 million from commercial banks, which will enable CEB to expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises in Russia’s frontier regions.
In the transaction announced today, the EBRD and IFC each committed to a three-year loan of $50 million for their own account, while a group of commercial banks will provide one-year syndicated B-loan comprising of $75 million IFC B-loan and $75 million EBRD B-loan. The commercial lenders have the option to extend the terms one year, at their discretion. IFC and EBRD are the lenders of record for respective B-loans.
“IFC’s support of this transaction will enable CEB to expand access to finance for Russia’s small and medium enterprise sector, particularly in frontier regions where there is a chronic shortage of funding options,” said K. Aftab Ahmed, IFC Director of Financial Markets in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa.
This transaction demonstrates ongoing interest by investors to fund mid-size Russian banks despite the current uncertain economic conditions, and will help to strengthen Russia’s capital markets and syndication environment. Commercial banks in the IFC B-loan are as follows:
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Bookrunners and Mandated Lead Arrangers: Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Standard Bank Plc, and VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG.
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Mandated Lead Arranger: İşbank GmbH.
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Senior Lead Arranger: AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft m.b.H., Citibank, Demir-Halk Bank (Nederland) N.V., PPF banka a.s., VakifBank International AG, and Yapi Kredi Bank Nederland NV.
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Lead Arranger: DenizBank AG.
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Co-arranger: Banque de Commerce et de Placements S.A. and Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş.
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Manager: Alternatifbank A. Ş., Atlantic Forfaitierungs AG, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association.
CEB operates in 23 of Russia’s 83 regions and has 2.5 million private retail customers, including 10,000 small businesses and over 900 corporate clients. CEB is owned by Credit Europe Bank N.V., part of the Turkish conglomerate Fiba Group, and ranks 45
th
among Russian banks in terms of assets.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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