MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility-managed Private Equity Vehicle Acquires 51% Stake in Bank Lviv, Lender to SMEs, Agricultural Firms in the Ukraine

A private equity investment vehicle managed by responsAbility Investments AG, a Switzerland-based asset manager specializing in impact investments in developing countries, recently paid an undisclosed sum to buy a 51-percent stake in Bank Lviv, a commercial bank that operates in the Ukraine. The seller was Margeir Petursson, a private individual from Iceland, who bought 99 percent of the bank’s shares for an undisclosed amount in 2006.

Bank Lviv primarily serves small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and agricultural companies in western Ukraine. Since September 2017, responsAbility has been working with Bank Lviv to take on “an experienced international management team [which] has since grown the credit portfolio to SMEs by 140 percent.”

Established in 1990, Bank Lviv is a commercial bank that provides deposit, lending, insurance and payment-card services. The bank is based in the city of Lviv and has 22 branches. As of December 2017, Bank Lviv reported total assets of USD 64 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 40 million and customer deposits of USD 32 million.

Founded in 2003, responsAbility is headquartered in the city of Zurich. As of July 2018, it has debt and equity deployed in 550 firms distributed across 90 “emerging economies and developing countries, targeting the inclusive finance, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture sectors.” These assets are valued at a total of USD 3 billion.

By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Information provided directly to MicroCapital by responsAbility

ResponsAbility press release
https://www.responsability.com/en/responsability-managed-investment-company-takes-majority-stake-ukrainian-bank-lviv

Bank Lviv background
http://www.banklviv.com/uk/about/history/

MicroCapital Brief; May 24, 2018; responsAbility Sells Equity Stake in Mibanco of Peru to Microfinance Institution’s Majority Shareholder, Credicorp
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-responsability-sells-equity-stake-in-mibanco-of-peru-to-microfinance-institutions-majority-shareholder-credicorp/

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.