Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Group, an investment company owned by a member of the ruling family of the emirate, said it paid $42 million for Georgia's Standard Bank as it seeks to tap economic growth in the former Soviet state.
"We see good prospects for Standard Bank and our investment is long-term," Bashir Tahir, The Abu Dhabi Group's chief executive officer, told Reuters by telephone.
"There is also a lot of interest in Georgia from the United States and Europe, and some neighbouring countries such as Turkey," Tahir said.
Standard Bank said on Sunday The Abu Dhabi Group bought the lender from private equity group Salford Capital, which was close to Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died last month. It did not give a value for the purchase. The Abu Dhabi Group is owned by Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The Abu Dhabi Group said in February it planned to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Georgia's telecom, banking, tourism and real estate industries.
The firm said in August it bought a 50 per cent stake in Bertelsmann's Middle East mobile phone affiliate as part of its strategy of boosting its telecommunications operations.
In November, it spent $16 million on a telecoms investment in Georgia, its first in the country.
Georgian National, the country's central bank, placed Standard Bank in temporary administration in November because of worries over liquidity.
