Maib to buy back 3% of own shares, some shares sold by investor consortium

Moldova-Agroindbank (maib), Moldova’s largest commercial bank, one of whose shareholders is the leading Baltic asset management group Invalda INVL, will purchase 3% of its own shares. Some of the shares are being sold by maib’s largest shareholder, the British company HEIM Partners Limited, which represents a consortium of investors that also includes Invalda INVL.

"The purpose of buying back our own shares is to use them for employee incentives and to provide liquidity for the bank’s shareholders. The buyback will also enable the bank to achieve a more efficient capital structure that ensures a higher return for shareholders,” says Vytautas Plunksnis, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of maib and Head of Private Equity at INVL Asset Management.

The share buyback took place from 21 August to 10 September this year. Maib will pay 74.56 Moldovan Leu (MDL) (about EUR 3.88) a share for 3,103,438 of its own shares, for a total of MDL 231 million (about EUR 12 million) for all the shares. The shares are being bought under a buyback programme approved by maib’s General Shareholders' Meeting on 19 June this year and by the bank's Supervisory Board on 2 August.

Maib's largest shareholder, HEIM Partners Limited, which is also taking part in the buyback programme, represents a consortium of investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL and Horizon Capital. After the sale of part of the consortium's maib shares, its shareholding in maib will decrease from 41.09% to 39.88%, while the shareholding indirectly owned by Invalda INVL alone will decrease from 7.92% to 7.68%.

In 2023, maid had an audited net profit of MDL 1.22 billion (EUR 64 million), or 7.5% more than in 2022. The bank paid dividends of MDL 757 million (EUR 39.4 million) for the years 2021-2023.

Contact person for further information:
Vytautas Plunksnis, Head of Private Equity at INVL Asset Management,
E-mail: vytautas.plunksnis@invl.com