The GED Group, through its subsidiaries GED Capital Development and GED Iberian Private Equity, is an independent private equity group operating in Southeastern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. Over its 10 years of operation in Eastern Europe, GED has built a strong professional team, with diverse investment and management skills.

The shareholders of GED Capital Development include key individuals directly or indirectly involved in its management (66% ownership), as well as the three anchor investors of the new Fund, as follows:

- Bank Austria Creditanstalt (Unicredit Group), a 10% shareholder;
- Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO), a 5% shareholder; and
- Caja Madrid, a 10% shareholder.

The Fund has a target size of €120 million. IFC’s investment would be up to €15 million, not to exceed 20% of total commitments.

19.15 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	19.15

* These investment figures are indicative

The Fund and the Manager are registered and incorporated in Spain. The management team is based in Bucharest, Romania and Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Fund is expected to have several important development impacts:

- Private sector development:

Similarly to GED I, the Fund will add value to its investee companies, by providing managerial and strategic support to improve their competitiveness and sustainability.

- Support for SMEs:

Many of the Fund’s investee companies are expected to be SMEs at the time of acquisition.

- Regional integration:

The Fund will support transactions which promote greater integration of companies in the region.

- Adoption of best practice for corporate governance and environmental standards:

The Fund will adopt international best practices for environmental and social risk assessment and management, as well as transparency and corporate governance, thus fostering knowledge and skill transfer, and encouraging best practices across the industry.

- Support of local fund manager:

IFC will support one of the few established firms with a hands-on investment approach.

- Governance of the Fund:

IFC will play a governance role through participation on the Fund’s Advisory Committee.

- Help to bring up the profile of the PE industry regionally:

The private equity market in the region remains limited. IFC will support the Fund’s management in its initiative to promote the industry and facilitate the dialogue between players and governments, by establishing a regional PE association.

- Enhance credibility in entering new markets:

A long-term partnership with IFC will help the Fund establish presence in new markets.

This project has been classified as a Category FI project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure.

During appraisal, IFC analyzed the fund’s expected portfolio of SME projects and potential sectors of investment and determined the Applicable Requirements based on an analysis of the potential Environmental and Social risks associated with the expected portfolio and considering IFC’s investment. The Applicable Requirements are:

- The IFC FI Exclusion List;
- The applicable National Environmental and Social Laws and regulations;
- The IFC Performance Standards.

IFC also reviewed the fund manager’s existing Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), and capacity to implement the same. It was found that the fund manager has a satisfactory ESMS and sufficient capacity to implement the same.

Based on the Applicable Requirements and fund ESMS and capacity review, the fund manager has also committed to:

- Implementing the ESMS for the new fund, to ensure that its investments/activities are in compliance with the Applicable Requirements;
- Commit to take action to remedy any gaps in ESMS implementation on an ongoing basis;
- Submit a periodic report to IFC as per a format to be provided by IFC.