Black Sea Fund

completed

Summary Of Project Information (SPI)Project NameEurope-Black Sea Fund     RegionEurope RegionalSectorProject No008959Projected Board DateApril 20, 1998Company NameBlack Sea FundTechnical Partner and/or Major Shareholders The sponsor, Global Finance, is one of Greece’s leading private equity and venture capital management firms, providing equity capital and management support for fast growing companies and entrepreneurs. Project Cost Including Proposed IFC Investment Total Cost US$50 million including an IFC equity investment of up to US$10 million.Location of Project and Description of Site The Black Sea region has a total population of about 130 million and suffers from a very limited supply of equity capital. The Fund’s target countries of operations include Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and FYR Macedonia.Description of Company and Purpose of Project The Black Sea Fund is a private equity fund investing primarily in medium-sized enterprises in the Black Sea region. This Fund will bring much needed equity capital and technical assistance to the region and acccelerate market development in the targeted counties. IFC was instrumental in structuring a predecessor Fund with the sponsor, and IFC continues to play a strong role in this follow-on Fund in terms of being an anchor investor. IFC has also been offered seats on the Fund’s supervisory board and its investment committee.Environmental Category and Issues This is a Financial Intermediary (FI) category project according to IFC’s environmental review procedure. The Fund will be required to undertake an environmental review of eligible investee companies’ operations. In addition, IFC will assess the Fund’s capability to carry out environmental reviews of each investee company. Date SPI sent to InfoShop      March 18, 1998“This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporation’s Board of Directors. It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFC’s activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.”For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -telephone: (202) 473-7711facsimile: (202) 974-4384