Invalda INVL, one of the leading asset management groups in the Baltics, will manage MD Partners, a company that has invested in Moldova-Agroindbank (MAIB), the largest commercial bank in Moldova, together with an investment fund INVL Special Opportunities Fund which is managed by INVL Asset Management.
After the permission was received from the central bank of Moldova and MD Partners bonds, issued in 2018, were converted into shares, Invalda INVL holds 51.37% and INVL Special Opportunities Fund 48.63% of MD Partners shares.
“We are asset managers who invest alongside our clients. That is why we invited private investors, who in 2018 invested EUR 4.5 million in INVL Special Opportunities Fund, to join the transaction in Moldova. The fund held MD Partners bonds, so investors had both the interest and the opportunity to monitor closely the story of MAIB after the international consortium had acquired its shares,” said Vytautas Plunksnis, Head of the Private Equity at INVL Asset Management, who is also a member of the Supervisory Board of MAIB.
According to him, the fund’s beneficial owners are Lithuanian companies and high net worth individuals who meet the criteria of informed investors.
An international consortium consisting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL and Horizon Capital, operating through an England based company HEIM Partners, holds 41.09% of the bank’s shares since winning the auction to acquire MAIB shares in October 2018.
MD Partners owns 37.5% of the shares of HEIM Partners. Other shareholders of HEIM Partners are EBRD (37.5%) and US based Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, managed by Horizon Capital (25%).
“We are pleased with the cooperation with the EBRD and Horizon Capital in jointly managing the bank and implementing corporate and risk management principles in line with Western standards, which contributes to the development of the Moldovan banking system,” Vytautas Plunksnis said.
“We launched the transformation of MAIB from corporate to retail banking, focusing on improving and expanding security systems and internet banking infrastructure. Together with the team, we aim not only to consolidate MAIB’s position as the undisputed #1 bank in the market, but also as the most customer-friendly and technologically advanced commercial bank in Moldova,” noted V. Plunksnis.
Last year, MAIB’s assets grew by 10% up to MDL 25.9 billion (EUR 1.3 billion). According to this indicator, the bank accounted for 29% of the Moldovan banking market. MAIB’s loan portfolio increased by 15% up to MDL 14.3 billion (EUR 740 million) and deposits by 9% up to MDL 20.3 billion (EUR 1.1 billion). According to these indicators, MAIB accounted for respectively 35% and 30% of the market. Meanwhile, the bank’s net profit jumped 33% last year as MAIB earned MDL 704 million (EUR 37 million).
The remaining shares of MAIB are owned by more than 3 thousand local shareholders, including current and former management of the bank.
INVL Special Opportunities Fund, an investment fund for informed investors, is managed by INVL Asset Management, one of the leading asset management companies in Lithuania, which belongs to Invalda INVL asset management group. The companies in the group manage pension and investment funds, alternative investments, individual portfolios and other financial instruments.
INVL and Šiaulių bankas merged their retail services as of 1 December 2023.
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INVL and Šiaulių bankas merged their retail services as of 1 December 2023.