Press Release
| July 12, 2007
LeBoeuf Lamb Advises CVCI and EBRD on Equity Investment in Kazakhstan
(Almaty, July 12, 2007) — LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP has acted as special counsel to Citigroup Venture Capital International ("CVCI"), a unit of Citibank N.A., and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("EBRD"), one of the major development institutions in the region, in connection with their equity investment in KazInvestBank JSC ("KIB"). The transaction
encompassed a significant first-time event for Kazakhstan's capital market: issuance of convertible notes by a Kazakhstan bank.
The EBRD has acquired an equity stake of up to 25 percent in KIB, valued at up to 2.5 billion Tenge (US$20 million), to support the bank’s regional expansion in Kazakhstan and the further development of its lending activities, especially in the retail and SME sectors.
CVCI has also taken a stake worth $20 million in KIB. It is the first investment in Kazakhstan by CVCI, a leading private equity investor in high growth markets including Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
KIB is a mid-sized bank founded in 1993, which has been actively developing as a commercial bank since 2004. As of December 31, 2006, KIB held total assets of US$198.9 million and Tier 1 and 2 capital of US$45.6 million. In December 2006, Standard & Poor's assigned a B/stable long-term credit rating to KIB.
The LeBoeuf team consisted of Aset Shyngyssov (counsel/managing attorney), Klara Nurgaziyeva (associate) in Almaty, Brian Zimbler (partner) and Bjorn Benckert (associate) in London, and Amy Comer (associate) in New York.
This memorandum is intended only as a general discussion of these issues. It is not considered to be legal advice. We would be pleased to provide additional details or advice about specific situations. For additional information on this important topic, please feel free to call upon your Dewey & LeBoeuf relationship partner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form, without our prior written consent.
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