The largest financial institution in Moldova, maib, has decided on an initial public offering (IPO) at the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The maib team initially considered several markets where they could place the bank's documents, but the decision was made in favor of Bucharest, the president of the bank, Giorgi Shagidze, announced in a press conference in Chisinau, as quoted by Infotag.
The previously options indicated for listing were London, Amsterdam, Warsaw and Bucharest.
The bank has 58 branches, 62 agencies, over 2,200 employees and about 900,000 active clients, of which 443 are corporate clients, with a loan portfolio of over 19 billion Moldovan lei (981 million euros) and deposits of over 26 billion Moldovan lei . He specified that the IPO will play the role of a flagship for the integration of Moldovan businesses on the international financial market.
“When the largest bank issues an IPO, it acts as an open gate to attract new investors to the country. They look at the country in general and then take the risks of the investment. Their first decision will be to invest in maib, and then in other assets from Moldova", said the banker. The bank is preparing to place securities in the first half of 2023, but does not rule out the possibility of this happening earlier.
In 2018, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), together with two private equity funds, bought a stake of over 41% of the shares of Moldova Agroindbank, the largest commercial bank in the Republic of Moldova. The price of the transaction amounts to around 23 million euros. EBRD bought stake in B.C. Moldova Agroindbank S.A (maib), together with the Invalda and Horizon Capital funds, from the Public Property Agency of the Republic of Moldova, the purchase being made through the HEIM Partners company, owned by the three buyers.
The EBRD is an important investor in the banking sector in the Republic of Moldova and the largest institutional investor in the Moldovan economy. At the same time, the EBRD, which is also a minority shareholder in Banca Transilvania, supported the entry of the Romanian bank into the shareholding of Victoriabank, the third credit institution across the Prut. Banca Transilvania bought 44.6% of Victoriabank's shares. Cumulatively, EBRD and Banca Transilvania jointly own 72.2% of Victoriabank.