EBRD to invest in Kazakh private equity fund

ALMATY, April 29 (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) [EBRD.UL] plans to invest up to $94 million into a Kazakh state-controlled private equity fund, the bank said.

The Kazakh government, keen to diversify the country's economy dominated by oil and metals, had earlier invited the bank to work on joint projects, seeking to learn from its experience.

The EBRD said in a document posted on its Web site late on Monday the proposed project involved Kazakhstan Growth Fund, a new private equity fund due to invest minority and majority equity stakes in private companies in Kazakhstan and beyond.

Both the EBRD and the state-owned investment holding Kazyna will have stakes of 50 percent minus one share in the fund. A special management company will own the remaining two shares.

"The fund... will promote the development and restructuring of medium-sized private companies," the EBRD said.

Total project costs can reach 22.5 billion tenge ($187 million), according to EBRD. The bank's board will review the project on May 28. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Erica Billingham)