Fund Raising

Two senior members of the Almaz Capital Partners team have come together to establish a new venture capital fund for Russian start-ups. Runa Capital, the new USD $30 million fund started by Alexander Galitsky and Serguei Beloussov, will target early stage companies active in the internet and software sectors.

Efforts to restructure Kazakh businesses harmed by the financial crisis got a significant boost earlier this month with a funding commitment by the the EBRD. The EBRD announced in early June that it had agreed to a joint effort with Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund to pump some $121.5 million into the ADM Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund.

Fresh off its recent purchase of Bank of America Merrill Lynch interests, AXA Private Equity is extending its reach into Central and Eastern Europe through an affiliation agreement with Poland's Resource Partners. The agreement will give Axa access to Poland and the Baltic States where the firm has pledged €50 million for investment in mid-sized agricultural and food companies.

Greek investment firm Marfin Investment Group (MIG) issued a press release on 22 March 2010 to announce a successful fund raising effort which garnered € 251.7 million. The funds come by way of a convertible bond loan, the issuance of which was determined prior to the recent downturn in the Greek economy.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a €50 million investment for Mezzanine Management Central Europe Limited's new eastern European fund, Accession Mezzanine Capital III. The two have a well-established relationship having worked together on the earlier AMC I & II funds. The EBRD's commitment to the corporate sector in the CEE region has been demonstrated over the years through total investments in excess of €2.5 billion.

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.

Emerging market investor Actis recently announced the final close of its USD 750 million Actis Infrastructure 2 fund. The fund fell short of its USD 1.25 billion target after anchor investor CDC Group reduced their USD 750 million commitment to USD 500 million. The U.K.-backed CDC had also committed USD 167 million to seeding infrastructure assets for Actis. Despite the lower than expected fund raising effort Actis considers the close of the fund to be successful.

After receiving final approval from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Resource Eastern European Equity Partners (REEEP) has announced the first close of its inaugural fund at €51 million. REEEP contributed €1million while the EBRD and Dutch financial institution Rabobank Group added €25 million each. The fund, whose final target size is €200 million, will target sectors that are traditionally under-funded by private equity.

U.K based Future Capital Partners recently announced it has secured £40 million in funds to be dedicated to a luxury real estate development project in Montenegro. The £150 million project on the bay of Buvda will include luxury apartments, a five-star hotel, an exhibition center, and other development of 100 meters of beach-front property. Among the current investors are private banks, British wealth managers, and handful of wealthy individuals.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is teaming up with Kazyna Capital Management (KCM) to launch a new Kazakhstani-focused fund. The new USD 300 million fund is aimed at providing capital to distressed companies which are experiencing difficulty in paying off a heavy debt load. While the fund will focus primarily on businesses in Kazakhstan, it will entertain opportunities in other countries as well, and hopes to attract further investment from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The deal marks the second joint effort between the EBRD and KCM, following the 2008 launch of the USD 125 million Kazakhstan Growth Fund which targeted Russian and Asian opportunities.