EBRD: $ 21 mn to acquire a minority stake in GCFS

Partial acquisition of a primary equity investment in GlobalCorp Financial Services (GCFS) alongside a consortium of investors made up of EBRD, Amethis and SPE Capital.

The project includes a primary capital component which will strengthen GCFS's capital position, help fund the expansion of its leasing and factoring SME segment, and expand into a wider array of financial services for the private sector.

The project supports (i) the Resilient TI quality whereby it will help fund its planned leasing and factoring growth, and underwrite more SME business, which require more capital buffer post COVID-19 and (ii) the Competitive TI quality as the investment will help GCFS, an established private sector player in the non-banking financial institutions market and one of the few independent players in the market, grow, be more competitive and expand into new businesses and segments.

GlobalCorp Financial Services is a non-banking financial institution offering leasing and factoring to corporates and SMEs in Egypt. GCFS was launched in 2015 by the Sanad Fund for MSME, CEO Hatem Samir, and Wadi Degla Holding, an Egyptian conglomerate.

Up to ca. USD 21 million to acquire a minority stake in GCFS, in addition to participating in potential future capital increases.

Additionality, The project mobilises commercial funding as its participation is essential for the completion of the transaction. Moreover, EBRD's extensive experience in the leasing and factoring sectors across more than 15 countries of operations provides GCFS with a useful template for sustainable growth across the credit cycle, and best practices in risk management.