EBRD joins forces with all other shareholders of Azerbaijan’s Unibank to strengthen its capital

LONDON, 27-Jun-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is joining forces with all other shareholders of Azerbaijan’s Unibank to strengthen its capital. Unibank’s share capital will increase by AZN 49 million and will enable it to reinstate its lending activities.

The EBRD is contributing to the share capital increase by converting up to US$ 9 million of its existing debt in the bank into new ordinary voting shares, thereby increasing the EBRD stake to 22.0 per cent.

The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft” (DEG) is converting up to US$ 15 million of its debt in Unibank into new ordinary voting shares, with its stake increasing to 27.6 per cent.

Eldar Garibov, the majority shareholder of Unibank, is subscribing to new ordinary voting shares for AZN 10 million, thereby retaining a controlling stake in the bank alongside other local shareholders.

“The EBRD supports Unibank, its longstanding partner in Azerbaijan, to recapitalise it alongside its main shareholders and contribute to the stabilisation and recovery of the economy and banking sector in the country,” said Ivana Duarte, head of the EBRD office in Baku.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Azerbaijan. Since the start of its operations in the country, the Bank has invested over US$ 2.8 billion in 161 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with 68 per cent of those investments in the private sector.

SOURCE: EBRD

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