Banco Vision, a Paraguay-based operator of a rural branch network of private banks, received $6.8m minority investment from Sustainability | Finance | Real Economies SICAV – SIF (SFRE, pronounced Sapphire).
The deal was comprised of convertible preferred shares giving SFRE an immediate ownership stake of 4.5% of preferred shares, and after conversion in 2017, a shareholding of 7.8% of common shares.
Led by Beltran Macchi, and other seven founding shareholders, Banco Vision has a significant presence in the interior of the country serving nearly 250,000 borrowers and almost 300,000 depositors with a well diversified mix of savings, microloans, and SME loans.
Initiated by the Global Alliance for Banking on Values and led by Jim Prouty, CEO, SFRE is an investment company created to support the globally growing segment of banks focused on serving individuals and enterprises in the real economy, while delivering a bottom line of economic, social and environmental impact. It is a Luxembourg SICAV-SIF with its initial compartment (SFRE Fund) established in February 2015.
FinSMEs
17/12/2015