The FINANCIAL — Liberty Bank CEO Lado Gurgenide has denied information published by The FIANNCIAL today regarding the sale of his shares in Liberty Bank. On Friday a source close to the Bank declared to The FINANCIAL that Mr. Gurgenidze, who is also acting Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Bank of Kigali, Rwanda has sold 80% of his shares. Oracle Capital Group, an independent multi-family office dedicated to providing personalized services to high net worth individuals, is involved in the purchase, the source claimed.
"Dear friends, just a short note to state that the rumor regarding my selling my shares of Liberty Bank, printed by one of the Georgian English-language papers today, is untrue. I have neither sold nor am contemplating a sale of any of the shares I own in Liberty Bank. On the contrary, since October 2012, I have purchased a few hundred thousand GEL worth of convertible preferred shares of the bank, increasing my stake slightly. I look forward to continuing to steer and guide the bank, as Executive Chairman, on its exciting journey, and am proud of what the team here has been able to accomplish in the last three and a half years", statement of Lado Gurgenidze says.
According to the latest reports published by National Bank of Georgia , Liberty Bank is jointly owned by billionaire Dan Costache Patriciu with 70.70%, Vladimer Gurgenidze with 7.48% and BNY Limited (Nominees) with 11.27%.
Dodo Botchorishvili, PR Manager at Liberty Bank, did not confirm the sale. National Bank of Georgia and the Association of Banks of Georgia said that they have no such information. The person at Oracle Capital Group office in London who answered the call from The FINANCIAL also said that she is not familiar with the Liberty Bank deal.
Liberty Bank is a successor to state-owned “AgroMretsvBank” which was privatised in 1994, renamed “People’s Bank of Georgia ” in 2002 and then “Liberty Bank” in March 2010. Liberty Bank is the fourth largest bank in Georgia by total assets, with a 6.6% market share as of 30 September 2012. The Bank has the largest branch network and serves approximately 1.4 million individuals and over 55 thousand legal entities.
One of the former shareholders of the Bank, Giorgi Goguadze, said in October 2012 that former founders of the Bank Irina Jincharadze, Aliona Kovalenko and he himself, are negotiating with National Bank of Georgia as they intend to regain Liberty Bank.
For the years 2008 and 2009 the Bank ended with losses of 45.7 GEL million and GEL 5.4 million respectively. In 2010 the net income of the Bank was GEL 4.6 million, in 2011 – GEL 7.6 million. As for 2012, the results of the first half have been published, which amount to GEL 1.5 million.
See: Liberty Bank CEO Sells His Shares, Claims Source
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