The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has reduced its equity stake in TBC Bank, Georgia’s largest bank, from 8% to 5%. The development bank sold 1.65mn TBC shares in an accelerated bookbuild placed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on December 4.

The EBRD did not mention a price but traders said the shares were placed at 1,120p each, resulting in a total price of GBP18.5mn (€20.4mn) for the whole stake.

The EBRD said it was confident in TBC’s strong performance and bright prospects and remained fully supportive of its strategic development and plans for domestic and cross-border expansion.

The sale was the second such step taken by the EBRD since it reached a participation height of 12.5% in TBC.

The EBRD first acquired shares in TBC in 2009 as part of a larger funding package to strengthen the bank’s capital base and support the expansion of its activities. In 2012, together with other shareholder international financial institutions, the EBRD participated in a rights issue by TBC Bank. Subsequently, the lender was successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014.

Francis Malige, EBRD managing director, financial institutions said: “TBC is a success story and the EBRD has been, and intends to continue to be, a close partner and shareholder for more than a decade. The bank’s strong progress allows us to reduce our shareholding and harvest some of the fruit of our patient investment strategy. Naturally, we continue to be actively involved in the bank’s future development.”

Unlike Bank of Georgia, the other major Georgian bank, which is the successor of one of the oldest banks in the country, TBC Bank was founded from scratch "with $500 in capital" in 1992, as Mamuka Khazaradze, co-founder and chairman, likes to recount.

Prior to its move to place premium shares on the LSE, TBC was still Georgia’s second biggest bank by assets and the third Georgian company to obtain a premium listing at LSE, after Bank of Georgia.

The bank then went on to surpass Bank of Georgia by taking over, for €130mn in a combined cash and share deal, 100% of Georgia’ fourth-biggest bank, Republic, from Societe Generale and the EBRD.

TBC is presently building a market presence in Uzbekistan.