The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it is considering an equity investment up to USD 30mn in Luxembourg-based private equity investment fund Earlybird Digital East Fund (EDEF). EDEF will use the facility for equity and equity-related investments in early-stage and expansion-stage technology companies primarily in Turkey but also in Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova and Jordan.
Earlier this month, the EBRD announced that it was considering a EUR 60mn financing facility for the Turkish private lender Sekerbank. Socar’s Vice President Suleiman Gasymov also announced that the EBRD was among the candidates those already expressed interest in providing financing for its USD 3.46bn worth Star Refinery investment in Turkey.
The EBRD has invested a total of EUR 2.5bn in Turkey since the beginning of its operations in the country in 2009. Last year, the EBRD invested a total of EUR 1bn and Turkey was the EBRD’s second largest country of operations in 2012.
| EBRD's work in Turkey | |
| Number of projects signed | 78 |
| Net Business volume | EUR 2.6bn |
| Total project value | EUR 8.1bn |
| Cumulative disbursements | EUR 2.2bn |
| Portfolio in private sector | 96% |
| Sector breakdown of projects* | |
| Industry Commerce & Agribusiness | 18% |
| Energy | 17% |
| Financial Institutions | 45% |
| Infrastructure | 19% |
| Source: EBRD, *As of March 2013 | |
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