Central and Eastern Europe

Private equity and venture capital news from Central and Eastern Europe

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• CRG Capital launches distressed fund for CEE with €36m 12 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. CRG Capital, a fund manager operating in the special situations space in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to launch a new fund.

• CapMan invests in Profit and Proffice 16 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Russia and Nordic country-focused alternative asset manager CapMan has invested in Nordic staffing company Proffice and Profit Software, a provider of IT insurance solutions to Northern Europe.

• AnaCap acquires Czech banking group 11 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. European private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners is to acquire Banco Popolare Ceská Republika, a Czech subsidiary of Italy’s Banco Popolare. Banco Popolare Ceská Republika is a corporate and retail bank with seven branches. AnaCap says that it plans to broaden the product mix, deepen management capabilities, and optimise the management of assets and liabilities at the bank.

• Carlyle targets Turkey with healthcare investment 11 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Carlyle has set its sights on Turkey with the acquisition of a 40 per cent stake in Medical Park Saglik Hizmetleri, a healthcare group. Carlyle is also reportedly in talks to purchase stakes in two other Turkish companies.

• Mezzanine investor Syntaxis nears target with €140m first close 11 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Syntaxis Capital, a mezzanine firm with offices in Vienna and Warsaw, has held the first close of its second Central European fund, with commitments of €140m. The fund is targeting €250m.

• Mid Europa Partners makes offer for remaining Invitel shares 08 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Mid Europa Partners, a Central and Eastern European-focused private equity firm, has offered to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Invitel Holdings, the Hungarian telecoms operator it acquired a majority stake in from Danish telephone company TDC in September.

• CEE-focused PE firm Royalton Partners adds parking business on 25 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Royalton Partners, a Central and Eastern European private equity firm, has acquired 93 per cent of the shares in COOL AR, a Polish parking zone operator, through its portfolio company ACTIV Parking Holdings. The deal size has not been disclosed.

• Advent International in buy-out of Bulgarian bottled water business 19 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Buy-out house Advent International has acquired 79 per cent of Bulgarian mineral water bottler and soft drink distributor Devin from Austria’s Soravia Group. The deal has been priced at BGN3.06 (€1.6) per share and values Devin at €40m.

• Polish PE firm Enterprise Investors sweeps up with €66m supermarket deal 18 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Enterprise Investors, a Poland-based private equity firm, has fully bought out Profi Rom Food Group, one of the largest supermarket chains in Romania, in a €66m deal. The transaction has been closed alongside a management buy-in team.

• CEE investor 3TS takes minority stake in Romania’s InternetCorp 18 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. 3TS Capital Partners, a growth capital investor in Central and Eastern Europe, has invested an undisclosed sum in InternetCorp, an independent online media company in Romania, for a minority stake.

• Invest AD gets behind Turkish logistics company Ekol Lojistik with €50m 11 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Invest AD, the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, will put down €50m to take a “significant” minority stake in Ekol Lojistik (EKOL), a Turkish integrated logistics company.

• Siguler Guff buys minority stake in Russian banking group 05 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. US emerging markets and distressed debt specialist Siguler Guff has bought a 3.3 per cent share of MDM Bank, one of Russia’s biggest lenders, according to reports. The investment is to be made through a $600m fund managed by Russia Partners, Siguler Guff’s Russian private equity division.

• Resource Eastern European Equity Partners holds first close on €51m 04 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Resource Eastern European Equity Partners, a CEE-focused private equity firm managed by former Carlyle managing director Ryszard Wojtkowski, has raised €51m for its first close with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Dutch Rabobank Group pledging investments.

• Carlyle Group takes 40 per cent stake in Turkish hospital company 04 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Carlyle Group has taken a 40 per cent stake in Turkish hospital developer Medical Park Hospital Group for $100m, according to reports.

• EQT Partners tunes into CEE TV market with acquisition of Eurocom and CableTel 29 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. EQT Partners, a European private equity firm, has acquired a 100 per cent of Eurocom from Warburg Pincus and a 70 per cent stake in CableTel from Gene Phillips, for a total enterprise value of more than €200m.

• Bridgepoint takes stake in Turkish vehicle inspector TüvTurk 28 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. European private equity firm Bridgepoint has taken a joint controlling stake in Turkish vehicle inspection group TüvTurk in the largest private equity investment in Turkey so far. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but reports last month estimated a stake of 33 per cent.

• Krokus PE fund acquires 44 per cent of Polish health services company 23 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Polish private equity firm Krokus PE has acquired 44 per cent of POLMED, a health services company.  The deal , which was made with capital from KroKus’ Nova Polonia Natexis II, was reached through an increase of capital to finance further expansion of the business.

• Kazakhstani PE firm to launch distressed fund with EBRD 23 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Kazyna Capital Management, a Kazakhstani private equity firm, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are planning on launching a joint private equity fund to invest in distressed companies.

• Interros and JP Morgan set up $1bn Russia-focused PE fund 22 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Interros Holding, the private equity firm owned by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, and One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JP Morgan, are to create a $1bn fund to invest in Russian companies.

• Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative, 3TS in €6m co-investment agreement 20 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative (iVCi) has teamed up with 3TS Capital Partners, a Central and Eastern Europe-focused private equity firm,  in a €6m co-investment to help support 3TS’ investments in the Turkish technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector.

• CEE-focused private equity firm PPF Partners takes 40 per cent stake in Czech energy group 15 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. PPF Partners, a private equity firm focused on the emerging market of Central and Eastern Europe, has obtained a 40 per cent stake in Czech energy group Energy and Industrial Holding (EP Holding).  The stake in EP Holding, a spin off from investment company J&T Group, is believed to be worth approximately CZK6bn (€232m).

• CVC Capital Partners raises its glass to first investment in CEE 15 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners will acquire the Central European operations of Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the world’s largest brewers, in a $2.2bn deal.

• TPG, Russia’s VTB Capital team up for Lenta purchase 12 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. TPG Capital, one of the bigger US private equity players, and Russian firm VTB Capital have teamed up for the acquisition of a 35.4 per cent stake in hypermarket chain Lenta.