Hualing Merges to Create Third-Largest Bank in Georgia

TBILISI – China’s Hualing Group, which owns Basis Bank in Georgia, announced Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with the Societe Generale Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the acquisition of Societe Generale’s majority stake in Bank Republic.

In its press release, Hualing said it would merge the two banking institutions to create the country’s third-largest bank that “would become a stalwart of the Georgian market”.

Hualing will now own controlling stakes in the new bank and occupy a majority on its supervisory board.

Societe Generale Group will retain approximately 8 per cent of the shares in the new combined entity and remain a member of the supervisory board. The EBRD will also retain a minority 3.9 per cent stake in the new combined entity and remain a member of the Supervisory Board as well as a committed financing partner for the Georgian banking market, according to Hualing Group.

“The merger…will not only strengthen Hualing Group’s banking operations and promote a more balanced competitive structure in Georgia’s banking sector, but also benefit the bilateral economic and trade relationship between China and Georgia,” Hualing Group said in a prepared statement.

The new bank will provide a full range of quality financial services to inbound Chinese companies, as well as to local corporate and individual customers.

Hualing Group is the largest foreign investor in Georgia and involved in major projects that include construction, real estate, logistics, hospitality, livestock husbandry and meat processing. The company also manages and rents the country’s largest trade and shopping centers, as well as its wholesale markets.

By Eka Karsaulidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller