IFC INVESTS US$5 MILLION IN FUND FOR BULGARIA
J. Segal
(202) 473-0393
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 21 -- The International
Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested US$5 million in equity financing
in the EuroMerchant Balkan Fund, a venture capital fund capitalized at
US$27.3 million. The Fund will invest in small and medium-sized companies
in Bulgaria and may also invest selectively in other countries in the region.
The Fund is sponsored by EuroMerchant Bank S.A., the third largest privately-owned
bank in Greece, and managed by Global Finance S.A., an Athens-based venture
capital group partly owned by Baring Venture Partners of the United Kingdom.
The Fund will be incorporated in Luxembourg as a closed-ended investment
company with a life of ten years. Private investors are providing 51 percent
of the Fund's capital and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
is investing US$8.3 million. "IFC's strategy in Bulgaria is to provide
a broad range of technical and financial support for the development of
private sector," said Mr. Daniel Adams, IFC Vice President for Capital
Mar
kets. "We hope that IFC's investment will encourage foreign private
investment both in Bulgaria and the Balkan region." IFC is a member
of the World Bank Group and is the largest multilateral source of equity
and loan finance for private sector projects in developing countries. (30)
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