FIMBank, the Malta-based trade finance bank, with a global network spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, has successfully completed the sale to State Bank of India of its 38.5 per cent stake in GTF, an Indian factoring company, which FIMBank had acquired in December 2004. The transaction marks the completion of the natural investment cycle in GTF – from start-up to maturity – and represents the first realisation of a strategic asset in FIMBank’s growing portfolio of start-up factoring companies around the globe. The sale was executed for a gross consideration of US$54.1 million, representing a 3.3 times multiple over the asset’s book value.

Commenting on the transaction, Margrith Lutschg-Emmenegger, FIMBank’s president, said the move brings the full value realisation of a mature asset and additional funds for FIMBank’s future growth, both for its core trade finance business and its portfolio of international factoring start-ups. This sale, combined with the US$25 million rights issue executed in December, results in an almost doubled capital base for the FIMBank group. In an environment of much reduced M&A activity and global credit turmoil, the sale of GTF also evidences the liquidity of FIMBank’s investment portfolio, as well as the effectiveness of the group’s equity investment strategy”.

With total assets of US$571 million at the end of 2007 and a stock market capitalisation over US$200 million, FIMBank (rated BB/Stable by Fitch) is a specialised trade finance bank – with a focus on emerging markets – with offices in Malta, London, New York, Sao Paolo, Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai, Cairo and Singapore. Through its subsidiary London Forfaiting Company, the FIMBank group is a leading player in global forfaiting. FIMBank is also building a portfolio of international factoring subsidiaries, in cooperation with supra-national institutions and local banks.