The Central Bank of Armenia has preliminarily approved a deal for the acquisition of the Armenian bank "Ameriabank" by the Georgian international bank Bank of Georgia, APA reports citing Business Media.
The decision on the preliminary approval for the acquisition of a significant stake in Bank of Georgia Group PLC and JSC Bank of Georgia into the authorized capital of CJSC "Ameriabank" was made at a meeting of the Central Bank of Armenia Council on March 29.
The deal, involving the acquisition of the Armenian "Ameriabank" by the Georgian international Bank of Georgia, was announced on February 19.
Noted that the headquarters of Ameribank, which provides corporate, investment and retail banking services, is located in Yerevan. It is reported that the bank is under the control of Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire who is currently in prison in Baku and was one of the leaders of the Garabagh separatists.
According to the deal, CJSC "Ameriabank" and BOGG PLC (Bi-O-Gi-Gi Open Joint-Stock Company, hereinafter "Group") – an international financial group registered in the United Kingdom – reached an agreement on the Bank's accession to the Group as a full-fledged independent member.
Thus, the Group will become the main shareholder of "Ameriabank," while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will retain a 10% stake.