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State General Reserve Fund to buy 30pc stake in Bulgarian bank

MUSCAT — The State General Reserve Fund has agreed to buy a 30 per cent stake in Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank, it was disclosed yesterday.

The Sultanate’s state fund will buy the stake from majority shareholder Bromak, a Sofia-based financial services firm, the bank said in a statement, without disclosing the value of the deal.

The agreement will require final approval from Bulgaria’s Central Bank.

The Corporate Commercial Bank had net profits of 40.3 million leva ($27.3 million) in 2008.

Oman’s General Reserve Fund has made a flurry of investments in Bulgaria and believes buying into Corpbank is a major step in its expansion in the country.

The General Reserve Fund, formed in 1980, ran assets of $8.2 billion in 2008, according to the Ministry of Finance data.

Bromac has a 57.78 per cent stake in Corporate Commercial Bank. The lender’s other big shareholder is Bulgarian Institute of Microelectronics, which controls 23.32 per cent.