Georgian bank’s head of IR discusses plans and challenges following $240 mn IPO
June 2014 saw the London Stock Exchange (LSE) welcome the largest-ever IPO from Georgia, as financial services firm TBC Bank was opened up to foreign investors through a global DR (GDR) program.
With TBC valued at around $640 mn - and BNY Mellon acting as the depositary bank for the transaction - commentators said the deal was expected to raise at least $240 mn for the Georgian bank, excluding some shares that would be distributed as part of an over-allotment option.
We asked seven questions of Tamuna Kakulia, TBC’s deputy CFO and head of IR, to find out more about the Georgian bank’s plans for engaging with investors after its record-breaking IPO.
IR Magazine: How many people are involved in TBC Bank’s IR program?
Kakulia: The IR division is headed by the company’s deputy CFO and employs two IR managers. The IR division reports directly to the CFO. 
The TBC Bank investor relations team - with Tamuna Kakulia, fourth from the right - at the London Stock Exchange
What sort of investors are you hoping to attract to TBC Bank?
As part of the IPO, reputable institutional investors from the UK, the US, Scandinavia and other European countries bought TBC Bank’s GDRs, ultimately making it the largest-ever ‘off-index’ international IPO from EMEA. In the future, we will target a similar type of investor that will be interested in our company and the country at large.
What tools or technologies will you use to do this?
We will be regularly updating the financial community with news on the bank’s development through results releases, investor update conference calls and non-deal roadshows. In addition, we plan to attend conferences, which we believe are a great opportunity to meet potential and existing investors, increase their awareness of the company and provide them with required updates.
What does your current investor base look like?
The majority of our investors are currently from the UK and the US. As we did not provide a retail offering either locally in Georgia or on the LSE, a large majority of these investors are institutional investors.
How will you keep in touch with your constituents?
Through non-deal roadshows and conferences, our main goal will be to meet our investors face to face and provide them with the information they require. We will also hold conference calls.
What questions have you faced most from investors and analysts so far?
Investors and analysts were interested in our equity story, our macroeconomic environment and its outlook, the Georgian banking system and its regulation, and the factors that differentiate TBC Bank from its competitors. Investors also had more specific questions regarding loan book growth, strategy, and so on.
Is there currently a lot of interest from investors in Georgian companies? Might TBC Bank’s IPO open the way for other companies in the country to do the same?
Currently, only two Georgian Banks – including TBC – are listed on an international stock exchange. Our IPO did prove the investor community has substantial interest and trust in the Georgian economy at large by attracting significant investment into our firm and – indirectly – into the Georgian economy. We believe, over time, that this will lead to other Georgian companies increasing their capital through international offerings.
Laurie Havelock
Laurie has been part of the IR Magazine team for more than a decade, starting out as a reporter and research editor before becoming editor in 2023. He was previously acting business editor at the i newspaper and deputy business editor at The Daily...
