According to the announcement published by the State Assets Management Agency on November 20, 2022, the Express of Interest stage of the purchase of 50,0% state share (the "Deal") in the authorized capital of JV "UZ-DONGJU PAINT COMPANY" LLC (the "Company" or the "Asset") has been completed.

As we reported earlier, сonsortium of consulting company Rezolut and law firm Dentons Tashkent have been attracted as a consultant of the Agency  for this deal.

In the framework of the Company's privatization processes, the Consultant carried out complex marketing activities, including the distribution of investment teasers to potential investors. As a result, by November 27, 2022, the Consultant received Express of Interest applications from 8 international and local investors.

All proposals received by the State Assets Management Agency together with the privatization consultant were analyzed for compliance with the following criteria:

• absence of any judicial, administrative, arbitration or other proceedings that might result in a ban on participation in the privatization process;
• compliance with Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 660-II "On Counteraction of Legalization of Criminal Proceeds, Financing of Terrorism and Financing Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation";
• the applicant (or, in the case of a consortium, any member of the consortium) or any of its affiliated persons should not be included in the public sanctions lists of the European Union and the USA, as well as any of the major international development banks (the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank).

Based on the results of a detailed study of the proposals received by the Consultant, their compliance with the requirements of the above criteria was determined.

Accordingly, 4 applicants who successfully passed the Express of Interest stage were invited to participate in the next stage of the privatization process to accept non-binding offers (NBO), and accordingly a letter on the processes of this stage was sent to them (Process Letter 1).

The applicants who confirmed their participation in the process of accepting non-binding offers for the privatization process signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and were then granted access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR), which allowed them to review the Information Memorandum prepared by the consultant, which contains the information required to prepare indicative non-binding offers for the purchase of the Asset.

Till December 14 this year Consultant has received 4 non-binding offers (NBO) for the purchase price of state share in the authorized capital of the Company. Applicants' offers have been analyzed by the Consultant to meet the requirements of this stage of the sales process, including their financial performance and solvency level, and based on the Consultant's recommendation, all of 4 applicants have been transferred to the next stage of accepting binding offers (BO).

Subsequently, these applicants will be invited to participate in the next stages of the privatization process and Consultant will send them a letter on the processes of the next stage (Process Letter 2). Applicants who have confirmed their future participation in the privatization process will be given the opportunity to access the Virtual Data Room (VDR), which includes independent analytical reports (VDD) on financial, tax, legal and environmental performance of the Company prepared by the Consultant, as well as the opportunity to meet with the management body with a direct visit to Company.

Binding offers (BO) for the purchase of the Assets will be accepted by the Consultant until 18:00 (Tashkent time) January 14, 2023.

The State Assets Management Agency together with Consortium of consulting company Rezolut and law firm Dentons Tashkent would like to thank all participants, who have shown interest in the privatization process and submitted proposals, as well as to express confidence in further constructive cooperation with applicants, who have successfully passed the non-binding offers (NBO) acceptance stage of the privatization process.