Category Archives: News

Rouble best-faring of EM currencies but Russian economy may hit the rocks ‘any moment’ – Matrix Capital

By Andrei Skvarsky. The Russian rouble has been the best-performing of emerging market currencies in 2021 and is likely to get stronger in the near term but Russia’s economy as a whole is an unpredictable state and may run into trouble “any moment”, according to Moscow’s asset management boutique Matrix Capital. Inflation is likely to… Continue Reading

World ESG-focused investments likely to get above $53 tln mark by 2025 – Matrix Capital

By Andrei Skvarsky. Global investments compliant with environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles may exceed $53 trillion by 2025, making up about one-third of the world’s total assets under management, said the head of Moscow-based asset management boutique Matrix Capital. ESG-compliant debt markets may show an even more impressive growth with the total value of… Continue Reading

Julius Baer announces staff moves for Swiss market, makes hires for Moscow investment unit

By Andrei Skvarsky. Swiss bank Julius Baer has announced staff moves in its central management in Switzerland and made hires for its Moscow-based investment consultancy for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Gilles Stuck, today’s head of structured finance, will be in charge of the Zurich-headquartered bank’s entire Switzerland business with effect from… Continue Reading

Moscow’s Renaissance Insurance Group planning IPO

By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based Renaissance Insurance Group expects to raise up to 21bn roubles (about $289m) through a planned initial public offering (IPO) of ordinary shares being co-organised by Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, VTB Capital, BCS Global Markets, Renaissance Capital, Sberbank and the Tinkoff bank. Moscow Exchange would be the site of the planned floating,… Continue Reading

UAE’s Mubadala, two other firms invest $33m in Open Mineral metals trader

By Andrei Skvarsky. United Arab Emirates state investment company Mubadala and two other firms have put $33m into Switzerland-headquartered base metals trading company Open Mineral to help it further sophisticate the digitisation of its business. Dusseldorf-headquartered venture capital firm Statkraft Ventures and Beijing- and Hong Kong-based private equity fund Lingfeng Capital were the investors that joined Mubadala in… Continue Reading

$150m raised in energy transition-focused IPO co-run by Sova Capital, EarlyBirdCapital

By Andrei Skvarsky. London-based brokerage Sova Capital and U.S. boutique investment bank EarlyBirdCapital have acted as joint book runners for a successful initial public offering (IPO) aimed at funding an energy transition project for emerging and frontier markets. Oxus Acquisition Corp., a Kazakh special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), raised $150m through its IPO on the… Continue Reading

Uzbek govt to relinquish control of JV with Coca-Cola in privatisation deal

The Uzbek government has pledged to sell its controlling stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan, Ltd, a joint venture with Coca-Cola, as part of a current sweeping privatisation programme in the Central Asian country. Turkey’s Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) A.Ş., one of the key bottlers in Coca-Cola’s global system, is to pay $252.28m for the 57.12 per… Continue Reading

Uzbekistan’s Grand Leather Shoes pulls off buyout overseen by Bluestone bank

By Andrei Skvarsky. Uzbek shoe manufacturer Grand Leather Shoes has bought out a dysfunctional electrical heating equipment producer as part of Uzbekistan’s current sweeping privatisation programme, with Central Asia-focused Bluestone Investment Bank leading the shoe company through the $1.9m acquisition. Grand Leather Shoes, whose name in Uzbek is Grand Charm Poyafzallari, acquired a stake of 61.9… Continue Reading

Moscow’s European Medical Center planning IPO to be managed by Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, J.P. Morgan, VTB Capital

By Andrei Skvarsky. The European Medical Center, a private clinic in Moscow, has announced that it plans an initial public offering (IPO) with Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, J.P. Morgan and VTB Capital acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. The European Medical Center (EMC) is the brand used for the clinic by its owner,… Continue Reading

Ether arouses more interest in U.S. than anywhere else – Invezz

By Andrei Skvarsky. The Ether cryptocurrency arouses much more interest in the United States than anywhere else in the world, a study by investment intelligence company Invezz suggests. There are 11 European countries in Invezz’s ranking of the world’s 20 nations showing the greatest interest in ether and sifted from 155 countries covered by the… Continue Reading

EXCLUSIVE: Polish VC firm Inovo launches 2nd fund, worth 54m euros

By Andrei Skvarsky. Inovo Venture Partners, a Polish venture capital (VC) firm focused on technology startups in Central and Eastern Europe, has closed a second fund, one worth 54m euros, after its first fund generated a 320 per cent return on investments in 15 companies, leading two of them to successful initial public offerings (IPOs).… Continue Reading

ActivTrades brokerage reports record profit, turnover for 2020

Online brokerage ActivTrades has reported a profit and turnover for 2020 that it says are the highest annual volumes since the company was set up 20 years ago. The London-based brokerage, which provides services in more than 140 countries in 14 languages, offering more than 1,000 contract-for-differences (CFD) or spread-betting instruments, registered a pretax profit of… Continue Reading

Russia’s Segezha timber products maker to hold IPO

Russian timber products manufacturer Segezha, a subsidiary of Russian conglomerate Sistema, has announced a plan to hold an initial public offering (IPO) of ordinary shares. The IPO would be held on the Moscow Exchange. Segezha expects to raise at least 30bn roubles ($396m at the April 14 exchange rate) via a primary offering of newly… Continue Reading

Russia’s Sberbank offers a bunch of services as $5 monthly subscription package

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has launched a scheme for retail clients that, for a monthly subscription fee of 399 roubles ($5), offers a diversity of financial and non-financial services, including a free debit card and discounts on food delivery, taxi journeys, and restaurant bills. The SberPrime+ scheme involves the acquisition of a… Continue Reading

Buildings in Tashkent, mountain resorts on sale under Uzbekistan privatisation project

Uzbekistan’s government plans to sell several properties, including three mountain resorts, under a real estate privatisation project announced last week. Five properties with a total floor space of 85,490 square metres (920,000 square feet) are going on sale in capital city Tashkent. They are a business centre, hotel, indoor houseware market, newspaper printing office and… Continue Reading

ActivTrades: Inflation concerns a key world stock market factor

An analyst at London-based financial broker ActivTrades has argued that mixed developments in global stock markets this week are “broadly a reflection of lingering inflation concerns”. Investors expect an early rise in inflation in the United States because of the current successful vaccine rollouts there, technical analyst Pierre Veyret said in a statement. On the… Continue Reading

Russia’s Sberbank buying out e-commerce firm goods.ru

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has signed a deal to buy out goods.ru (Marketplace), a Russian e-commerce company selling a wide range of consumer goods, among them electronics, car accessories, furniture, toys and medicines. Sberbank is going to acquire an 85 per cent stake in goods.ru by buying part of Russian electronics retailer… Continue Reading

Russian gold miner GV Gold puts off IPO over market ‘volatility’

GV Gold, one of Russia’s largest gold miners, has postponed a planned initial public offering (IPO) because of what its chief executive officer has described as “elevated levels of market volatility in global and Russian capital markets”. The IPO was to be held on the Moscow Exchange. Trading had been scheduled to start on March… Continue Reading

Financial literacy in UK not very high – Uswitch survey

By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by British price comparison service Uswitch suggests that the average Briton is not too savvy about financial terminology with about one-fifth of the British failing to fully understand the term “pension” and about a quarter not being completely sure what “interest rate” means. Investment jargon is a set of financial… Continue Reading

Interest in cryptos high in U.S., Asia but Europe less excited – Invezz.com

By Andrei Skvarsky. The United States is the country most interested in cryptocurrency and there is wide-scale interest in crypto in Asia but Europe is far less excited, according to online investment intelligence company Invezz.com. India is in second place as regards interest in cryptocurrency, according to an Invezz.com study that evaluated the degree of… Continue Reading