Category Archives: Deals

Germany pledges 20m-euro soft loan to Namibia to support SMEs, rural families

By Andrei Skvarsky. The German government has pledged a concessional loan of 325m Namibian dollars (20m euros) to Namibia under a November 15 agreement to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and rural and remotely-located households in the African country. The money would be provided by German state-owned development bank KfW to Namibian national postal… Continue Reading

PDM loan helps Equistone buy out service provider for cancer patients

By Andrei Skvarsky. A loan from debt investor Permira Debt Managers (PDM) has helped private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe to acquire Omnicare, a German provider of oncological services and cancer drugs. PDM-advised funds acted as senior secured lender in the buyout project, the London-headquartered debt investment company said in a statement. Most of Equistone’s… Continue Reading

Telco forum to mull buyouts in Africa as ways to boost profits

By Andrei Skvarsky. Numerous telecommunications companies are getting together for an Africa-focused conference late this month to discuss the future of buyouts in Africa’s financial technology sector and other industries in the continent as potential ways of making higher profits. TMT Finance Africa 2019, to be held in London on November 28, is expected to… Continue Reading

Sberbank to buy minority stake in MFT tech firm from Gazprombank

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has signed a preliminary non-binding deal to buy a minority stake in Russian digital projects specialist MF Tekhnologii (MFT) from Gazprombank, another major Russian lender. MFT is a joint venture set up in June 2018 by Gazprombank, oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s USM Holdings, Russian mobile phone operator Megafon, and… Continue Reading

Russia’s Sovcombank sells 85 pc of debut Eurobond to European, US, Asian investors

By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sovcombank debuted in the global debt market this month with its first-ever Eurobond issue, 85 per cent of which was sold to European, US and Asian banks and investment firms with total demand that exceeded the bonds’ combined face value by more than one-third. Citi, J.P. Morgan, UBS, Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, and… Continue Reading

Marlin announces new investments

By Andrei Skvarsky. Investment company Marlin Equity Partners has announced that it has bought out Whitlock, a systems integrator and technology management firm, and that it has made a growth equity investment in regulatory compliance software provider SmartSearch. Marlin, a global company with more than $6.7bn of capital under management, has completed more than 150… Continue Reading

PDM loan helps Bridgepoint buy Qualitest software testing firm

By Andrei Skvarsky. Specialist debt investor Permira Debt Managers has enlarged the 150-company list of recipients of its financial support by lending to private equity group Bridgepoint to help it to buy out software testing company Qualitest. PDM’s Permira Credit Solutions Fund acted as senior secured lender in providing Bridgepoint with a loan that enabled… Continue Reading

Thomson Reuters acquires FC Business Intelligence

Thomson Reuters has announced it has acquired FC Business Intelligence (FCBI), a global business-to-business events specialist, which will now be rebranded Reuters Events and operated as part of the Reuters News division of the world’s largest multimedia news provider. FCBI, which is based in London, organises conferences and exhibitions for diverse sectors including insurance, energy,… Continue Reading

Gazprombank, Credit Bank of Moscow arrange syndicated loan for Belarus food retailer

By Andrei Skvarsky. Major Russian lenders Gazprombank and Credit Bank of Moscow have arranged the first-ever syndicated loan for a Belarussian private company, an eight-year facility of 3.5bn Russian roubles ($52.5m) for Eurotorg, Belarus’s biggest food retailer. The two banks were also the main lenders in the syndicate. The terms of the loan deal allow… Continue Reading

Permira Debt Managers loan helps Germany’s Emeram invest in high-profile IT firm

By Andrei Skvarsky. A loan from London-based debt investment company Permira Debt Managers has helped German private equity firm Emeram Capital Partners to make an investment in ]init[, a German provider of information technology services, mainly for public sector institutions. Funds managed by PDM have acted as the sole senior lender in a syndicated loan… Continue Reading

Sberbank, Belarus Development Bank to help fund Belarus’s foreign trade

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has promised loans to help finance foreign trade in Belarus under a recent agreement between Russia’s biggest lender and the Belarussian Development Bank. “Creating a maximum range of instruments for financing foreign trade contracts for Belarussian enterprises … is one of the key objectives of the presence of the [Development] Bank… Continue Reading

National Bank of Oman seeks $300m syndicated loan, mandates Bank ABC, Emirates NBD to arrange it

By Andrei Skvarsky. National Bank of Oman (NBO), one of Oman’s largest banks, has mandated Bahrain-headquartered Bank ABC and Dubai’s biggest lender Emirates NBD to arrange a $300m syndicated loan for it. The loan would have three years’ maturity, according to a statement from Emirates NBD. The statement said the consortium that would provide the… Continue Reading

Emirates NBD buys Turkey’s DenizBank from Russia’s Sberbank

By Andrei Skvarsky.By By Andrei Skvarsky. Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, has bought Turkey’s DenizBank from Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, which said “sanctions-related restrictions and a corresponding change in Sberbank’s international strategy” explained its decision to sell the Turkish firm. Emirates NBD and Sberbank have said in statements that the sale has been completed now… Continue Reading

PDM loan helps Gilde buy promo gifts firm from Perusa

By Andrei Skvarsky. Funds run by debt investor Permira Debt Managers (PDM) have provided buyout company Gilde with a loan for buying Dutch promotional gifts supplier Xindao from private equity firm Perusa. The PDM-managed funds have acted as the senior secured lender in helping make the acquisition possible, the London-based debt investor said in a… Continue Reading

PDM helps Francisco Partners buy IT firm from Denmark’s Axcel

By Andrei Skvarsky. Funds managed by London-based debt investor Permira Debt Managers (PDM) are acting as senior secured lender in the purchase of EG, a leading Scandinavian software company, by global private equity company Francisco Partners from Danish private equity firm Axcel. EG’s buyout value has been set at 3.7bn Danish kroner ($556m). The deal… Continue Reading

Permira Debt Managers funds acting as senior lender to French manufacturer

By Andrei Skvarsky.  Funds advised by London-based debt investor Permira Debt Managers (PDM) are currently acting as the sole senior secured lender to Sotralu, a French manufacturer of accessories for sliding doors and windows, to enable the company to refinance its existing debt and finance future acquisitions. Sotralu, whose business geography covers France, Italy and… Continue Reading

Sberbank buys into firm digitising Islamic alms collection

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has acquired a 25 per cent stake in PayZakat, a Moscow-based company that has developed and operates a digital system for the collection and distribution of zakat, alms that are obligatory in Islam and are normally collected in cash worldwide. Continue Reading