Central and Eastern Europe

Private equity and venture capital news from Central and Eastern Europe

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• Oryxa Capital sinks teeth into Cadbury’s Romanian division 07 Jul 2010. Source: AltAssets. Kraft Foods, the world’s second-largest food and beverage corporation after Nestlé, has agreed to sell off Cadbury’s Romanian confectionary business to investment fund Oryxa Capital.

• Enterprise Investors inks first Hungary deal 01 Jul 2010. Source: AltAssets. CEE-focused private equity firm Enterprise Investors has inked its debut Hungary deal with the €23m acquisition of a controlling stake in Netrisk.hu, an online non-life insurance broker in Hungary.

• App store GetJar streams $11m from Accel Partners 24 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. GetJar, the world’s second largest app store by downloads, has capped off a Series B funding round with $11m from Accel Partners.

• IK buys out Polish juice maker Agros Nova 15 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. IK Investment Partners, the pan-European private equity firm formerly known as Industri Kapital, has bought a stake in Polish fruit juice maker Agros Nova as it is banking on growth in consumerism in the country.

• Enterprise Investors backs Polish supermarket chain with €50m 10 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. CEE-focused private equity firm Enterprise Investors has taken a stake in Dino, a Polish supermarket chain. Enterprise has invested PLN200m (€50m) through its Polish Enterprise Fund VI for a 49 per cent holding in the company, which has branches throughout western Poland.

• LitCapital teams up with EIF to support Lithuanian SMEs 03 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. LitCapital is lining up a new fund that will invest €20m in Lithuanian small and medium enterprises. The risk capital fund is the third and final equity instrument to be implemented by the European Investment Fund (EIF) through the JEREMIE Holding Fund initiative in Lithuania.

• Russian private equity firm Elbrus Capital undergoes renaissance 02 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. Following a spin-out, a fund restructure and a rebranding, Renaissance Private Equity has emerged from its parent as Elbrus Capital, a new Russia-focused fund manager.

• Horizon Capital invests $40m in agriculture company 02 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. Horizon Capital, a firm focused on Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova has acquired a stake in Agro-Soyuz, a diversified agricultural corporation, for $40m.

• Prometheus merges Russian pet store chains 01 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. Prometheus Capital Partners, a private equity business that invests in Russia and the other former Soviet Union countries, has bought controlling interests in pet product retail chains Beethoven and ZooBoom for an undisclosed amount.

• Siguler Guff backs Russia’s economy with $250m for innovation hub 01 Jun 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity group Siguler Guff plans to invest $250m in a high-tech hub near Moscow, a vote of confidence for Russia’s economic modernisation plan, according to the Financial Times.

• Polish PE firm Innova buys up remaining stake in financial advisor Expander 20 May 2010. Source: AltAssets. Warsaw-headquartered private equity firm Innova Capital has led a consortium of funds in acquiring an additional 40 per cent stake in Expander Advisors, a Polish financial advisor, taking the remaining share from General Electric’s GE Capital division.

• EBRD commits $50m to secondaries fund 20 May 2010. Source: AltAssets. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a development finance institution that aims to enhance poorer economies in Europe, has said that it will commit $50m to a new fund that aims to invest in the private equity secondary market.

• Mid Europa acquires stake in Czech solar developer Energy 21 13 May 2010. Source: AltAssets. Central and Eastern Europe-focused private equity firm Mid Europa Partners has agreed to acquire a "strategic" stake in Czech solar developer Energy 21, committing to inject new equity into the company to support its Central and Eastern Europe growth strategy.

• AXA PE forms partnership to access CEE 10 May 2010. Source: AltAssets. AXA Private Equity, the investment arm of the French insurer, has affiliated with Poland’s Resource Partners to invest in mid-sized businesses in Central and Eastern Europe, primarily in the food and agricultural sector in Poland.

• Warburg Pincus in €80m Polish restaurant operator PIPE 26 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York private equity firm Warburg Pincus has moved into the CEE food sector with a PLN307.2m (€79.2m) investment in AmRest, the largest independent restaurant operator in the region.

• BaltCap targets Lithuanian SMEs alongside EIF 26 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. Baltic growth investor BaltCap has signed an agreement with EU SME development finance orgnisation the European Investment Fund (EIF) to create the first ever risk capital fund for micro, small and medium enterprises in Lithuania.

• Asset manager I2BF opens second cleantech venture fund 13 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. Moscow and London-based asset management group I2BF has launched its second cleantech-focused venture capital fund and is looking to raise $100m to invest in the sector.

• Standard Bank augments PE capabilities with three new hires 13 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. Standard Bank has hired three new senior executives to its private equity arm, augmenting the capabilities of the emerging markets-focused bank in the asset class.

• Abris takes Polish car fleet company off General Motors’ GMAC 09 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. Central and eastern European-focused private equity group Abris Capital Partners has taken the wheel of Masterlease Polska, a car leasing business previously owned by General Motors’ financial services arm GMAC.

• Advent International buys Romanian healthcare company from 3i 18 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Global private equity firm Advent International has acquired a majority stake in Centrul Medical Unirea, a chain of Romanian medical clinics, from 3i and the company founders.

• Innova acquires Polish concrete paving producer 17 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Central Europe-focused mid-market investor Innova Capital has acquired Libet, a Polish producer of concrete paving. The firm took over 100 per cent of shares in the company through its fourth fund, Innova/4. Transaction terms were not disclosed.

• Permira agrees on debt restructure for Borsodchem 08 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Permira, a UK buy-out firm, has agreed terms with China’s Wanhua Industrial over a restructuring of Hungarian chemicals company Borsodchem’s €1.1bn debts, according to the Financial Times.

• Turkey’s RHEA Investments kicks off year with duo of deals 29 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. With Turkey beginning to take off as a private equity frontier market, Istanbul-based asset management firm RHEA Investments has entered the new year with two deals.