ADB becomes shareholder of Uzbek bank
By Aynur Jafarova
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) bought the Uzbek Ipak Yuli Bank's additional shares worth 6.9 billion soum and became its full shareholder with a 13.56 percent stake in the authorized capital, the press service of the Uzbek bank said.
The Ipak Yuli Bank registered an additional issue of shares with a total volume of 6.9 billion soum in late March, planning to increase its authorized capital to 50.9 billion soum. In total, the issue prospectus included 69 million of ordinary shares with par value of 100 soum each.
The entire volume of the additional issue was intended to one investor, the ADB. The deal amounted to over $3.4 million.
The Ipak Yuli Bank's shares are owned by thousands of shareholders, including legal entities and individuals, the largest of which is the national company of export-import insurance, UzbekInvest (nearly 18 percent).
The non-state bank was established in 1990. The bank has a branched structure of mini-banks, express centers, branch offices in Tashkent and several regions of Uzbekistan.
The ADB has been cooperating with the Ipak Yuli Bank since 2006, providing the bank with loans for small business development projects. To date, Ipak Yuli has spent over $11 million of ADB loan funds, directing them to credit small and private business entities.
The deal was the first investment in the share capital of a commercial bank in Central Asia, concluded by the ADB's Department of Private Sector Operations.
The investment in the authorized capital of the Ipak Yuli Bank will facilitate the implementation of international banking standards and best international practices as well as strengthen the capital adequacy for the rapidly growing financial institution.
Uzbekistan became the member of the ADB in 1995. As of April 2013, the ADB approved allocation to Uzbekistan of about $ 4.5 billion to implement 48 investment projects worth more than $13.5 billion.