Shareholders of Uzbekistan's Davr Bank agree on main conditions of sale to International Bank of Azerbaijan

TASHKENT. June 16 (Interfax) - The shareholders of Uzbekistan's Davr Bank agreed on several aspects of a planned deal to sell 51% of shares in the bank to the International Bank of Azerbaijan (ABB) at their meeting on June 8.

According to a disclosure on the Unified Corporate Information Portal, the shareholders agreed on the main conditions of the potential deal and the necessary corporate, legal, financial and regulatory procedures to be carried out.

The parties also plan to discuss the possibility of an option agreement which could grant ABB the right to acquire an additional package of 23% of the bank's shares in accordance with subsequent agreements.

At the meeting, the shareholders also chose to extend the powers of Davr Bank CEO Abdumajid Samadov for another year.

ABB CEO Abbas Ibrahimov has said that ABB will begin its activity in Uzbekistan in the second half of 2026, purchasing 51% of the country's Davr Bank and investing over $100 million in doing so.

"Our negotiations on the purchase of a controlling stake in a private bank on the Uzbek market have been successfully completed. We hope to complete the process of obtaining permissions and registration swiftly and that our country's international bank brand - ABB - will begin functioning in Uzbekistan under the name of ABB Davr Bank," Ibrahimov said.

The bank's management said that the Uzbek bank had assets totaling around $1 billion, a client base exceeding 1.4 million and 43 bank branches.

Davr Bank has been active since 2001. Its largest shareholder is supervisory board chairman Lutfulla Ubayev, who holds a 46.9% stake.

ABB was established in 1992. The Azerbaijani government owns 92.2% of the bank's charter capital. Its shareholders comprise 17 legal entities and 35,105 private individuals. ABB currently has banking subsidiaries in Russia and Georgia.