July 12 (SeeNews) - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said it is investing 120 million euro ($140.5 million) in a subordinated bond issued by Romanian lender Banca Transilvania.
IFC is the main investor in this ten-year issue - the first issue of subordinated securities listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, which raised 285 million euro with the participation of other international financial institutions, the IFC said in a press release on Wednesday.
"We are honored with the confidence shown by our investors and their appetite for this transaction, which is a premier on the Romanian market and will strengthen our level of development," Banca Transilvania's executive director Omer Tetik said. "The fact that you are exclusively involved with large-scale global players like IFC and EBRD is illustrative of the value and power of this issue."
At the end of June, the European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) said it has invested 100 million euro in the bond.
In 2004 Banca Transilvania received from IFC a priority loan for mortgage-backed lending. Since then, IFC has invested in a series of senior, subordinate and convertible debt instruments for the bank.
"We hope that this transaction is a test for the market, which will pave the way for other programs that will contribute to the consolidation of Romanian capital markets," IFC regional director for Europe, Middle East and North Africa Manuel Reyes Retana said.
Banca Transilvania is Romania's second largest bank by assets and is rated 'BB+' by Fitch Ratings.
The bank's shares traded 0.62% higher at 2.4450 lei as at 1041 CET on Thursday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($=0.854 euro)
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