March 20 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said it will increase to 8.7% from 3.6% its stake in Frankfurt-based ProCredit Holding, the parent company of banking group ProCredit, thus becoming one of its core shareholders.
The EBRD will also acquire a 9.9% ownership in the bank's management company, ProCredit General Partner, the lender said on Friday without providing any financial details.
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"The investment will support ProCredit Holding in its transformation to an open joint stock company while preserving its impact orientation, as announced by ProCredit Holding in October 2022. Furthermore, the EBRD will support the Group's business strategy, governance, and collaborate with ProCredit on furthering its climate mitigation practices and aligning its business and financial flows with the goals of the Paris Agreement," the EBRD said.
Both acquisitions will take the form of private transactions with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). They are subject to relevant regulatory approvals.
The EBRD will be a strategic shareholder of the ProCredit Group alongside Zeitinger Invest, German state-owned investment and development bank KfW, Doen Participaties and ProCredit Staff Invest.
The European lender first acquired a minority stake in ProCredit Group in 2018 through the subscription of 2.14 million shares as part of a capital increase.
In Southeast Europe (SEE), ProCredit group, which consists of banks providing financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has subsidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.
ProCredit Bank (Bulgaria) EAD is among the biggest banks in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
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