Banco Fibra

completed

Founded in 1988, Banco Fibra S.A. (Fibra or the Bank) is a leading mid-sized Brazilian bank with assets of R$9.8 billion ($4.6 billion) as of June 30, 2006 and ranked 19th among private-sector owned banks. It focuses its activities in commercial lending, with a client base of approximately 800 corporate clients: - 50% are companies with annual sales between R$30 million and R$100 million (middle market); - 25% are firms with annual revenues between R$100 million and R$400 million (upper middle market); - the remaining 25% are considered to be large corporates, which the Bank defines as companies with annual sales in excess of R$100 million, but characterized by highly sophisticated and professional management. The Bank is also active in the consumer finance segment, mainly through operational agreements with medium size retail stores, with approximately 380,000 retail clients and 1,000 sales points as of June 2006. The project involves the investment of $50 million-equivalent, in a combination of debt and equity. The investment will be used by the Bank to further expand its lending activities involving middle market companies and to further improve their already sound corporate governance practices.