Abu Dhabi Group has bought Georgian Standard Bank from the private equity group Salford Capital which was close to Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili who died last month.
"Salford capital is pleased to announce that its affiliates and partners have sold a 100 percent equity interest in Standard Bank, a commercial bank operating in Georgia, to KOR Bank, a newly registered commercial bank in Georgia, wholly-owned by Dhabi Group," Irakly Rukhadze, Standard Bank's chairman, said in a statement.
The value of the deal was not disclosed. Georgian National (central) bank placed Standard Bank into temporary administration in November last year because of what it said were worries over its liquidity.
Salford's lawyers said the bank was being targeted because of apparent links to Patarkatsishvili, who was suspected by the Georgian government of trying to incite a coup in Georgia. Patarkatsishvili, a billionaire opponent of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, died suddenly last month at his estate near London. Police initially treated the death as suspicious, but have found no evidence of foul play. Abu Dhabi Group said last month it planned to invest several hundred million dollars in Georgia's telecoms, banking, tourism and real estate sectors.