The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is the investment arm of World Bank Group, increased its stake in Romanian bank Banca Transilvania from 3.54% to 5.36%, according an official announcement. The World Bank Group thus became the third largest shareholder of the bank.

IFC got an additional 1.8% in the bank after converting EUR 20 million worth of Banca Transilvania bonds into shares. The IFC had bought the bonds in 2013, when Banca Transilvania issued EUR 30 million worth of convertible bonds which were subscribed by some of the bank’s shareholders and by a limited number of qualified investors.

IFC had become a shareholder of Banca Transilvania in 2009, also following a bond conversion. The financial institution then got 3.5% of the bank’s shares for USD 25 million worth of bonds.

IFC’s total investment in Banca Transilvania’s shares was about EUR 40 million. Its 5.36% stake is currently worth EUR 56 million, taking into consideration the market capitalization of the bank, which was EUR 1.04 billion (as of November 11, 2014).

Banca Transilvania, which is headquartered in Cluj-Napoca, is currently Romania’s third largest bank by assets. The bank’s assets were EUR 7.7 billion, at the end of September 2014. The bank is also one of the most profitable local banks, with a net profit of EUR 76 million for the first nine months of 2014, up by 40% compared to the same period of 2013.

Banca Transilvania’s main shareholder is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which holds 14.6% of its shares. The second largest shareholder is local investment fund SIF Moldova, which had a 8.5% stake at the end of September 2014.

The bank’s founder and president of the board, Horia Ciorcila, also holds more than 5% of its shares.

Local investors held about 51% of the bank’s shares while international investors have 49%, according to the latest data on the bank’s website (at November 11, 2014).

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com