The Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently arranged a syndicated loan in the amount of USD 67.5 million for the Beirut-based Lebanon and Gulf Bank (LGB Bank) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon. The deal, which is FMO’s first syndicated transaction with a Lebanese bank, carries a term of between five and seven years. Of the total amount, FMO is funding USD 32.5 million. The Austria-based OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), an affiliate of the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is investing USD 20 million in the syndication. The third investor is the Austrian government’s Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), which has committed USD 15 million.
LGB Bank, which was formed in 1963, has LPB 6.4 trillion (USD 4 billion) in total assets as of 2017. Most of its 25 branches are in Lebanon, and it recently has expanded to Cyprus and Dubai.
The vision of FMO is to help abolish extreme poverty, increase equality and support measures that reduce climate change. It reports total assets of EUR 8.5 billion (USD 9.5 billion) and pre-tax profit of EUR 219 million (USD 245 million) for the year 2016 [2].
By Alex Gelfond, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
FMO press release: https://www.fmo.nl/news-detail/ac7d2075-facb-4993-b59d-533fd6a0ce7b/fmo-ofid-and-oeeb-signed-the-first-syndicated-loan-to-a-lebanese-bank-lgb-bank
[1] LGB Bank: https://www.lgbbank.com/
[2] MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO, Triodos, Accion Invest Equity in Nicaraguan Microfinance Institution Financiera FAMA:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fmo-triodos-accion-invest-equity-nicaraguan-microfinance-institution-financiera-fama/
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