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Press Release

Thursday, February 23, 2006

OPIC Guarantees Loan for Mortgage Lending Facility in Republic of Georgia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A loan guarantee from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will enable a leading bank in the Republic of Georgia to provide residential mortgage lending, both improving and diversifying the country’s financial infrastructure by infusing local mortgage markets with additional capital, OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr., announced today.

OPIC’s guarantee is supporting a $10 million loan facility by U.S. small business lender WorldBusiness Capital, Inc. (WBC) to the Bank of Georgia (GSE:GEB) for the provision of residential mortgage lending in Georgia. Bank of Georgia is partially owned by Firebird Management, a New York-based investment fund.

WBC is a commercial finance company specializing in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in emerging markets. OPIC in 2003 entered into a cooperative agreement with WBC to expand support for SMEs investing overseas and enhance the activities of OPIC’s Small Business Center.

“Improved access to mortgage financing is an integral step in the development of every emerging market’s capital infrastructure. Through our partnership with WorldBusiness Capital, OPIC is helping the Bank of Georgia to expand its mortgage lending, thereby serving a rapidly-growing market in Georgia and potentially stimulating additional economic growth in the country,” Mosbacher said.

Lado Gurgenidze, CEO of Bank of Georgia, said, “I am pleased that WBC and OPIC have joined forces in extending a US$10 million facility for the bank’s growing mortgage financing needs. This facility will dramatically enhance our mortgage lending capability and will enable us to provide our clients with the opportunity to finance their home improvement needs. We look forward to doing more with WBC and OPIC in the future.”

Brett N. Silvers, President and CEO of WorldBusiness Capital, said, “WorldBusiness Capital is pleased to provide funding to the Bank of Georgia specifically for the expansion of their residential mortgage lending. As a leader in this field, the Bank of Georgia is making affordable homeownership more widely available than ever before in Georgia.”

Bank of Georgia is the market leader in mortgage lending in Georgia and has been providing residential mortgages since 2000. As of year-end 2005, Bank of Georgia had over 1,200 mortgages in its portfolio valued at over GEL 37.8 million ($21 million), which constitutes a 137 percent growth year-on-year.


OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.  It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy.  Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad.  OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.

 

Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.