Acquisition

Penta Investments, the CE investment group based in Prague, has reached an agreement to acquire the PR Market chain in the Czech Republic. Penta will acquire 100% of PR Market, which operates under the Koruna brand name, with completion of the deal expected to come within the next two months. The acquisition is expected to help strengthen Zabka, the convenience store chain also owned by Penta. Neither party has commented on the value of the acquisition as they wait for regulatory approval from the Czech Antimonopoly Office.

Upon acquiring Czech opthalmology company Lexum Group last year, ARX Equity Partners pledged to work with Lexum founder Marc Filipec to expand the company within Central and Eastern Europe. Holding to that pledge Lexum recently announced the acquisition of Intermedica, a leading player in Poland's opthalmology clinic market, for an undisclosed price.

German car maker Daimler appears to be working on a deal with Troika Dialog to buy an additional 15% of Kamaz, the financially troubled Russian truck manufacturer. If Daimler, which already owns 10% of Kamaz, can work out a deal with an acceptable price it would then own a blocking share of 25% and be able to exert greater influence. Minority shareholder Russian Technologies is also interested in acquiring the Troika stake but the Russian government appears more preferential to Western investors.

Alpha Medical Ventures, a portfolio company of European private equity firm Penta Investments, has acquired a 90% stake in Polish lab chain DD Lab. The investment is Alpha Medical's first opportunity in Poland and part of the company's strategy to become a market leader in the Central European nation of 38 million people. DD Lab's 10 facilities and annual revenue of €4 million make it the sixth-largest such business in Poland, boosting Alpha's total European market share as they plan to enter the Czech Republic in the near future.

Newly founded company Banijay Entertainment has acquired a controlling interest in the Russian production company Intelegencia Entertainment. The acquisition adds to Banijay’s holdings in the entertainment content industry, which include ALJ Production and Depeche Prod.

Government owned Khanty-Mansiysk Bank has scheduled a special general stockholder's meeting on July 27 to consider the bank's plan for a new stock issue of up to RUB 3.5 billion. A successful issue would increase the share capital of the region's largest bank to RUB 10.5 billion. The increase will enable Khanty-Mansiysk to receive a 10 year loan from Russian development bank Vnesheconombank and reach a capitalization of RUB 1 million. East Capital and Ferrosplav Invest, two of the bank's current shareholders, will purchase the shares through a private offering. After realization, the stake owned by the Yugra government will be reduced from 66.3% to 44%.

Troubled Hungarian canned food producer Globus has sold its meat processing unit to Hamé, the largest food group in the Czech Republic. Hamé, acquired by Nordic Partners Food & Beverage in 2008, already operates a unit in Hungary. The addition of the Globus unit is expected to increase the company's Hungarian production by two or three times.

Vienna Capital Partners (VCP) has announced the acquisition of 3,175,000 ordinary shares of FHB Jelzálogbank Nyrt.(FHB), increasing its stake in the Hungarian bank to nearly 20%. The shares were purchased from HSBC Bank plc (HSBC) as part of an agreement reached in late 2007.

Bulgarian holding firm Eurohold Bulgaria has increased its total investment in Euroins, a local blue-chip insurance firm, adding to a previous investment that was made late last year. Eurohold's stake in the company is now at 76.5% after the purchase of 1.75 million additional shares. The purchase price was set at BGN 4 per share with BGN 1 par value. The infusion of cash now puts Euroins' capital near BGN 12 million, helping to offset losses the company suffered in 2008.

Cosmote, wholly owned by Greek incumbent OTE, has acquired an additional 12.6 percent stake in Albania Mobile Communication (AMC). The deal is worth EUR 48.2 million and raises Cosmote's stake in the company to 97.6 percent.