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Syndicated loan for SME-focused Šiaulių Bankas
The EBRD is lending €12 million to Lithuania’s Šiaulių Bankas to support the
development and expansion of a bank focused on small- and medium-sized
enterprises. €7 million is being syndicated to commercial banks (COMMERZBANK
Aktiengesellschaft, HSH Nordbank AG, Copenhagen Branch, Bankgesellschaft
Berlin AG, WGZ-Bank Westdeutsche Genossenschafts-Zentralbank eG, and Caixa
Geral de Depόsitos S.A., France), while the EBRD is keeping €5 million for its
own account. The transaction gives Šiaulių Bankas access to the international
commercial syndicated debt market for the first time.
The loan follows an equity investment by the EBRD in Šiaulių Bankas earlier
this year, when it acquired a 16.1 per cent stake for €6 million. The EBRD and
Šiaulių Bankas have been business partners since 2000, when the Bank provided
it with a successful SME credit line.
Under the SME credit line, Šiaulių Bankas has made some €11 million in loans
to more than 600 SMEs operating in light manufacturing, wholesale and retail
trade, production, distribution, services and transport. Šiauliu Bankas is
based in the manufacturing and agricultural centre of Šiauliai in Northern
Lithuania. In recent years, it has expanded its network to 44 branches in 26
locations throughout Lithuania.
The new loan should help Šiaulių Bankas grow significantly by easing its
access to medium- and long-term funding, said Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, EBRD’s
Director Bank Lending. Additional funds will allow Šiaulių Bankas to continue
financing private business customers and particularly small- and medium-sized
enterprises at competitive market terms, thus contributing towards further
growth of Lithuania’s economy.
“We are happy to continue our strong relationship with the EBRD with this
loan,” said Algirdas Butkus, Chairman of the Board of Šiaulių Bankas. “We are
particularly pleased that this transaction is being syndicated as it will help
us to get known as a successful local bank on the international syndication
market. We will continue our support for SMEs, which is at the heart of the
activity of our bank.”
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