November 8 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday it has invested 4.5 million euro ($4.98 million) in a 20 million euro bond issued by Romanian mobility services company Autonom.
Autonom will use the raised funds to expand its car fleet in order to meet increasing demand from local companies, the EBRD said in a press release.
The bond will be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
"The transaction promotes the further development of Romania’s capital markets and builds on a recent upgrade of the country’s stock market to a secondary emerging market by FTSE Russell," the bank noted.
In September last year, EBRD said it is lending 5 million euro to Autonom to help the company expand its car fleet.
Autonom, founded in 2006 by two brothers, Marius and Dan Stefan, now has a network of over 40 agencies across Romania, subsidiaries in Hungary and Serbia and a total of 9,000 vehicles. It also provides short and medium term car rentals, chauffeur and shuttle services, equipment lease, road assistance, car-fleet management services, and used car sales.
In July 2018, Romania’s Banca Transilvania Group (BT Group) [BSE:TLV] completed the sale of its operational leasing business to Autonom for an undisclosed sum.
Following the deal, Autonom's headcount increased to 500 employees, portfolio reached around 5,000 corporate clients and the fleet increased to some 8,000 vehicles.
($=0.902 euro)
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