Garanti Bank to join Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative (IVCI)

Garanti Bank, Turkey's second largest private bank, is to join the Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative (iVCi), Turkey's dedicated fund of funds and co-investment programme advised by the European Investment Fund (EIF). Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative, or "iVCi" as the programme is known, aims to serve as a catalyst for the development of the private equity industry in Turkey whilst achieving good returns for its investors. Garanti Bank becomes the first private Turkish institutional investor of reference in this programme.

Ergun Özen, President and CEO of Garanti Bank, said: "whilst experiencing fast growth over the past couple of years, venture capital is still a relatively new asset class in Turkey. Garanti Bank is committed to the support of SMEs and through iVCi we not only become Turkey's leading institutional investor but also a key partner in something which is good for our country. We are therefore very proud of being able to support such an innovative programme which is directly reaching out to SMEs."

Richard Pelly, EIF's Chief Executive added: "Garanti Bank is a financial institution of reference in the region. The fact that it is joining iVCi will add to the quality of the programme and most importantly bring value to Turkish businesses. We have known Garanti Bank for several years now and our partnership in iVCi is evidence of the good work we have done and will continue to do together. I am confident this is a stepping stone for future such successful joint ventures."

The first closing of iVCi took place in Luxembourg on 13 November 2007 at EUR 150m. iVCi's final closing will take place on 31st March 2009 at an envisaged total fund size of EUR 160m.

About EIF

EIF was established in 1994 and part of the EIB Group. EIF has a tripartite shareholding, which includes the European Investment Bank, the European Union represented by the European Commission, and a number of public and private European banks and financial institutions.
EIF central mission is to support Europe's SMEs by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops equity (venture capital and private equity) and debt (guarantees) instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, regional development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.

About Garanti Bank

Garanti Bank ("Garanti") is the second largest private bank in Turkey with $65.2 billion consolidated asset size as of December 31, 2008. Garanti provides retail, commercial, corporate and private banking services to over 8.1 million customers. Garanti was established as a privately owned commercial bank in Ankara in 1946.   In 1983, Doğuş Group - one of Turkey's largest conglomerates with operations in processed food, retailing, contracting, financial services and tourism - acquired Garanti.  In 2001, Garanti became one of the largest players in Turkish banking sector as a result of Doğuş Group's strategic decision to merge all its banking operations under Garanti.  Since Doğuş Group's acquisition of Garanti, its assets grew from $386 million reaching over $65 billion since 1983. Since December 23rd, 2005, Doğuş Holding and GECF, the Bank's majority shareholders, act in accordance with the principle of equal partnership. The board consists of equal number of directors appointed from Doğuş Group and GECF and it is chaired by Mr. Ferit Şahenk - Chairman/CEO of Doğuş Group.

For further information please visit www.garantibank.com

About iVCi

Established in November 2007, Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative (iVCi) is Turkey's first ever dedicated fund of funds and co-investment programme. It is sponsored by the Small and Medium Industry Development Organisation of Turkey (KOSGEB), the Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV), the Development Bank of Turkey (TKB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). EIF is the adviser to iVCi.
iVCi leverages on the experience of EIF, the European Union's specialised financial body for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the risk capital arm of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group).

For further information please visit www.ivci.com.tr

For further information, please contact Joëlle Harvey on +352 42 66 88 243, email  j.harvey@eif.org.