FIMBank plc - Acquisition

FIMBank announced that it has agreed the terms of acquisition of a 38.5% shareholding in Global Trade Finance Private Limited for a cash consideration of USD 4,571,875.

GTF is a joint venture company with its head office in Mumbai (India), with other offices in New Delhi, Chennai and Madras. The acquisition will be executed by purchasing 12.5% of the shareholding presently held by the International Finance Corporation and 26% from WestLB AG. GTF is an unquoted company specialised in offering export-financing solutions to small and medium sized Indian exporters with a strong focus on products such as Factoring and Forfaiting.

GTF started operations in September 2001 with a share capital of 450 million India Rupees (circa USD 10.13 million), and has reported a profit after tax of 13.2 million India Rupees (circa USD297,300) for the financial year ended on the 31 March 2003 and as at that date held a funded portfolio of 1.73 billion India Rupees (circa USD39 million).

The cash offer made by FIMBank is fully funded from its own resources and is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approval by the Malta Financial Services Authority, the Reserve Bank of India and the outcome of a due diligence exercise on GTF.