Posted Thu, 04/02/2010 - 12:25
After three years as majority shareholder in Austrian internet company adverServe Digital Advertising Services, CEE private equity firm 3TS Capital Partners has exited the portfolio company via a sale to founder Boris Schärf. Mr. Schärf completed the buy-out with financial support from an undisclosed Austrian bank.
Posted Wed, 03/02/2010 - 12:38
KupiVIP.ru, the Russian online shopping club led by CEO Oskar Hartmann, recently concluded a third round of new funding to the tune of USD 20 million. U.S.-based Accel Partners led the round and was joined by previous investors Arlan, Direct Group, Mangrove Capital Partners, and Oliver Jung. KupiVIP.ru has managed to raise a total of USD 31 million after its first to rounds brought in USD 3 million and USD 8 million, respectively. The new funding will be used to improve logistics and operational infrastructure.
Posted Mon, 01/02/2010 - 13:55
BaltCap Latvia has announced a new Latvian-focused venture capital fund in concert with the European Investment Fund (EIF), making it the first to complete fundraising under EIF's JEREMIE process. JEREMIE is made available to select financial institutions through the EU Cohesion policy to help streamline and maximize SME investment.
Posted Mon, 01/02/2010 - 13:30
Austrian asset and investment management firm CRG Capital has reached a deal with Wosana S.A. majority owner, Mr. Pawel Lyson, enabling it to fully exit from the Polish beverage producer after three years of involvement. The firm agreed to sell the 41.8% stake to Lyson in early December despite looking at bids from several other unidentified investors.
Posted Mon, 01/02/2010 - 12:11
Aurora Russia has announced an agreement to increase its stake in OSG Records Management Group through conversion of a USD 1 million loan issued in March, 2009. In executing the option to convert the loan to ordinary OSG shares, Aurora will acquire existing shares from OSG as well as new shares to be issued. The total value of the transaction is £12.4 million; £8 million for existing shares, £3.2 million for new shares, and £1.2 million payable in cash to OSG.
Posted Sat, 30/01/2010 - 18:48
Penta Investments may be considering an IPO in the near future for portfolio company Fortuna, Central Europe's largest betting chain operation. Penta, which owns 100% of Fortuna, considers an IPO to be one of the options available to further develop Fortuna and strengthen its position in the region. The company believes it could raise as much as €100 million on the Warsaw and Prague stock exchanges.
Posted Thu, 28/01/2010 - 20:04
American-based Piper Aircraft recently announced plans to enter the market for light sport aircraft after reaching a deal with Slavia Capital to purchase Czech Sport Aircraft. The deal allows Piper it to produce the popular SportCruiser model for distribution worldwide. Though neither party has officially commented on the deal, estimates place the purchase price near USD 30 million.
Posted Thu, 28/01/2010 - 19:49
Air Maintenance Estonia (AME) has been sold by owner Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) to BaltCap for an undisclosed sum. SAS acquired the Estonian company in 2003 but has since decided to shed its maintenance operations in favour of concentrating on core business activities.
Posted Tue, 26/01/2010 - 14:01
In keeping with its vision for a consolidated tourism industry in Central Europe, Warsaw-based Enterprise Investors has inked a deal to acquire Poland's Orbis Travel. Once the acquisition is complete, Enterprise will own just over 95% of Orbis and plans to continue operating under the well-known and trusted Orbis brand name.
Posted Tue, 26/01/2010 - 11:42
Vienna-based CRG Capital is joining forces with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to establish a new CEE fund to invest in distressed assets. The CEE Special Situations Fund has a target size of €200 million with the three initial investors providing a combined €36 million.
Posted Tue, 26/01/2010 - 00:27
In an unusual three-way deal Charles Ryan, head of UFG Private Equity, has teamed up with Rising Star Media's Paul Heth and National Amusements' Shari Redstone to purchase Rising Star from National Amusements. Heth and Redstone, the daughter of American media mogul Sumner Redstone, founded Rising Star Media in 2002 to take advantage of the burgeoning Russian theatre market. Heth will serve as the Rising Star's CEO, Redstone will take the role of chairman, and Ryan will represent UFG in the venture. The three partners are committed to further expansion of Rising Star's Kinostar chain throughout Russia.
Posted Tue, 26/01/2010 - 00:15
Last September, American buyout firm Advent International purchased a 79% stake in Devin AD from Austria's Soravia Group, with plans to acquire the remaining shares in a takeover bid. Now Advent is poised to delist the Bulgarian water bottler from the Bulgaria Stock Exchange after it completes the acquisition of 95% of company shares. The Bulgarian government has approved Advent's proposal which designates Elana Trading to complete the buyout and the sets the price Advent will pay at BGN 3.50 per share.
Posted Thu, 14/01/2010 - 22:50
Konzum, the Croatian supermarket chain and subsidiary of Ivica Todoric's Agrokor, has sold 100% of its Kozmo operations to private open-end investment firm Nexus Alpha. Though little is known about the deal, there is speculation that Todoric put the retail drugstore chain on the block due to difficulties in remaining competitive with Drogerie Markt (DM), Croatia's industry leader with a quarter of the total market share.
Posted Thu, 14/01/2010 - 22:42
Russian venture capital fund Bioprocess Capital Ventures has struck a deal with American pharmaceutical company Cleveland BioLabs to form a new joint venture named Incuron. The new company will be given the rights to CBLI's Curaxin pipeline, further developing the compounds for cancer treatment. Three investments totalling USD 18 million will be provided by BCV as Incuron reaches goals agreed to by both parties. The first USD 5.8 million will be given when Incuron is legally formed, the second investment of USD 6.4 million will be made when Incuron is ready for clinical trials, and the remaining amount will be provided at the completion of at least one Phase I/II patient trial.
Posted Thu, 14/01/2010 - 22:32
Russia's Metalloinvest has spoken with bankers about a possible 2010 initial public offering (IPO), though a specific target date and price have not been settled on. It's believed the Russian iron ore producer will eventually sell company shares publicly as it tries shore up and refinance more than USD 5.4 billion in debt. Metalloinvest first planned an IPO in 2008 but had to cancel those plans due to the financial crisis and waning investor enthusiasm.
Posted Thu, 14/01/2010 - 22:24
Just days before being de-listed from London's AIM, Russian media giant Rambler Media received a shareholder notification from Moscow-based Troika Dialog. The notification states Troika's interest in acquiring 466,683 ordinary shares in Rambler, on top of what was purchased a week earlier. The shares represent just over 3% of Rambler's issued ordinary share capital and will be sold for USD 0.01 per share.
Posted Thu, 14/01/2010 - 22:15
FHB Jelzálogbank Nyrt (FHB) chairman Zoltan Speder ended the 2009 year on a high note, buying 2.5 million 'A' series shares of the bank's stock through a standard OTC transaction. After paying € 3.9 per share for a total transaction amount of € 9.75 million, Speder has increased his stake in the bank to 16.75 %. Along with Speder controlled A64 Vagyonkezelo, the two hold a combined 10.75 million 'A' series shares in FHB bank.
Posted Mon, 11/01/2010 - 01:23
Benson Oak Capital recently announced a deal to exit Plastkov through the sale of its automotive holdings to Megatech. The sale, whose price is not known, includes three portfolio companies in the automotive injection molding business: Plastkov MR a.s., Plastkov Automotive s.r.o., and BTV Plast s.r.o.
Posted Mon, 11/01/2010 - 01:15
The 3TS Cisco Growth Fund has reached a deal with Brain Force Holding AG, allowing the fund to invest in Brain Foce subsidiary SolveDirect Service Management GmbH. The deal will result in the spin-off of SolveDirect, with Brain Force remaining as majority shareholder, while 3TS Cisco will team up with SolveDirect management to invest up to €6 million in the company.
Posted Mon, 11/01/2010 - 01:06
Russia's Mint Capital has completed divestiture from American telecom software developer, jNetX, following an October 2009 announcement that it had put the company up for sale. After initially investing USD 2 million in jNetX in 2002 and adding several million more since, Mint sold the company to U.S.-based Amdocs for USD 50 million, free of debt and cash.
