KYIV, September 13, 2007 – Investment bank Dragon Capital has successfully advised Piraeus Bank of Greece in its acquisition of Kyiv-based International Commercial Bank. Dragon Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Piraeus Bank, which purchased a 99.6%-share in the mid-sized Ukrainian bank for $75.3m.

As part of its advisory mandate, Dragon Capital carried out a complete analysis of the Ukrainian banking sector and helped Piraeus Bank choose its final acquisition target. Dragon Capital Investment Banking Vice-president Mykola Korol believes the deal speaks highly of Dragon’s accomplishments in this sphere.

“This acquisition represents the second successful M&A transaction by Dragon Capital in Ukraine’s banking sector,” he said. “Last year, Dragon acted as exclusive financial advisor to Austria’s Erste Bank group in its search for a suitable Ukrainian acquisition target, and that led to the eventual purchase of Bank Prestige for $104m.”

ABOUT DRAGON CAPITAL
Dragon Capital (www.dragon-capital.ua) is Ukraine’s largest securities brokerage, investment banking, private equity and asset management firm, offering a wide range of services to institutional, corporate and private clients. Since start-up in 2000, Dragon Capital has been the largest broker on the PFTS, Ukraine’s premiere stock market, , accounting for 33% of total stock turnover over 2006-07. Dragon’s IB division has completed 16 IPOs and private placements, raising $1bn for Ukrainian companies since 2005, and has helped local corporates attract nearly $500m in debt. Financial magazine Euromoney has recognized Dragon Capital five times as Best Equity House in Ukraine (2002, 2004-07).