IFC is to participate in a share capital increase in ATE Bank Romania and will own a 15 percent share, according to the Manager of ATE Bank Romania, Sergiu Ioan Manea.

Shareholders agreed last week to increase the lender’s share capital through a €5.5 million subscription from IFC, raising total capital to €37.4 mln from a preent €31.78 mln, of which 87.21 percent is owned by Agricultural Bank of Greece (ATE Bank).

The increase is to be made by turning a €4.6 mln loan granted by IFC to ATE Bank into a share capital subscription. The remaining funds will be subscribed in cash.

IFC also owned a share of the capital of Romania’s largest commercial bank, BCR, controlled by Austrian group Erste, and of the smaller Procredit Bank.

Since its founding in 1956 until 2006, the World Bank’s financial division has committed some $56 billion (€37.7 bln) in private sector investments in emerging countries, and granted syndicated loans to more than 3,500 companies in 140 countries.