Bank of Georgia to raise $100 mln in share issue

TBILISI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Bank of Georgia (BGEOq.L: Quote, Profile, Research),
Georgia's largest bank by assets, said on Monday it plans to
raise $100 million through an offering of new ordinary shares in
the form of global depositary receipts (GDR).

The bank said in a statement it had mandated ING Bank as the
sole bookrunner, Unicredit Group as a lead manager, and its
brokerage unit Galt and Taggart Securities as a selling agent.

The offering, expected to close on Feb. 12, will be made
available to international institutional investors.

The bank said the Firebird and East Capital funds, which are
the Bank of Georgia's shareholders, have indicated their
intention to participate in the offering.

"This second equity offering marks a significant milestone
for the Bank in its capital markets development," Nika Enukidze,
the bank's acting supervisory board chairman, said in the
statement.

The bank, the only Georgian lender listed on the London
Stock Exchange, raised $160 million in its initial public
offering in November 2006. Its 2007 net profit almost tripled to
75.4 million lari ($47.7 million).
(Reporting by Margarita Antidze, editing by Elizabeth
Fullerton)