By Andrei Skvarsky. Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A), a Netherlands-based startup promotion platform, has named 12 African startups that have been selected to pitch their business at an investors’ conference in Cape Town in November. The 12 companies, four of which are Egyptian, three Nigerian, four South African, and one Algerian, will showcase their projects… Continue Reading
CORRECTION: African Development Bank hosts investment promo event for North Africa
(Correcting ‘nearly half a decade’ to ‘nearly half a century’ in bottom para) By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) last week hosted a seminar in Tunis to advertise private investment opportunities in North Africa. The two-day event brought together nearly 200 participants from 23 countries who represented civil engineering, public works and other… Continue Reading
Mashreq, Emirates NBD launch digital solutions to help UAE’s traditional banking-plagued SME community
By Andrei Skvarsky. United Arab Emirates banks Mashreq and Emirates NBD have launched pioneering digital banking propositions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in what can solve a major problem for an economy nearly entirely consisting of SMEs. Abu Dhabi-based daily The National, citing the UAE government, said SMEs account for about 98 per cent… Continue Reading
New FX broker, Finior Capital, joins Abu Dhabi intl financial centre
By Andrei Skvarsky. A new company, foreign exchange (forex) brokerage Finior Capital, has been launched at the international financial centre in Abu Dhabi. While forex is its main specialism, Finior also offers brokerage services in metals, oil and other commodities trade, according to its newly-launched website, which has versions in English, Chinese and Arabic. Finior… 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
REMINDER: International Collateral Management Forum to open in Vienna on Sept 26
This is a reminder about the International Collateral Management Forum in Vienna on September 26-27, a conference where European Commission officials, bankers and others are going to discuss challenges brought about by new regulations and other issues. The forum will bring together institutions including the European Commission, the European Association of CCP Clearing Houses (EACH – an organisation… Continue Reading
Sberbank’s Lev Khasis confirmed as Rambler chair after stake purchase
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank first deputy CEO Lev Khasis has been confirmed as chairman of the board of directors of Rambler Group after the latter became Russia’s largest media and entertainment company by selling nearly half its capital to the country’s biggest lender. Khasis, who keeps his Sberbank position, will have a one-year stint as… Continue Reading
Permira Debt Managers closes one more fund as part of structured credit strategy
By Andrei Skvarsky. London-based debt investment company Permira Debt Managers (PDM) has closed one more – the fifth – fund as part a 1.4bn-euro ($1.5bn) structured credit strategy launched in 2010. What PDM designates as the Sigma strategy specialises in investing in collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) with a total of 1bn euros ($1.1bn) having been… Continue Reading
Russia’s Sberbank hires Anna Kozlovskaya from Mastercard as PR chief
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has hired Anna Kozlovskaya from Mastercard as head of public relations. Kozlovskaya’s appointment takes effect on October 3, the bank said in a statement. At Mastercard, Kozlovskaya was head of communications for what the New York-based financial services corporation describes as “high growth European markets”, putting, among others,… Continue Reading
Sberbank becomes major player in Russian media market by buying into Rambler
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s largest lender Sberbank has taken ownership of a 46.5 per cent stake in media company Rambler Group in closing a deal that has given birth to Russia’s biggest media and entertainment company. Investment holding company A&NN now owns a stake of the same size as Sberbank’s in Rambler, which runs one… 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
Sberbank funds show of Botticelli masterpiece in Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. As a project funded by Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, an Italian Renaissance painting that is one of the gems of the Uffizi gallery in Florence will be shown in Russia for the first time, spending more than five months in the country. Madonna della Loggia by Sandro Botticelli will be on show… 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
London’s Banking Transformation Summit to address blockchain, DeFi, cybersecurity
Technology chiefs from top global banks will raise issues such as blockchain, decentralised finance and cybersecurity at Banking Transformation Summit 2019 in London on October 23. The conference will discuss how blockchain is disrupting the financial world. It will debate whether decentralised finance (DeFi) – ecosystems comprised of digital applications or programs that run on… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Oksana Smirnova-Krell from MTS Bank as banking IT chief
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank has hired Oksana Smirnova-Krell from MTS Bank, a lender co-controlled by the country’s number-one mobile phone operator MTS, to oversee information technology aspects of banking at Russia’s biggest lender. Smirnova-Krell was deputy CEO and chief technology officer at MTS Bank, which is controlled by the MTS mobile operator and Russian… 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
Commercial Bank of Dubai, Xpress Money sign deal to facilitate cross-border remittances
By Andrei Skvarsky. Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) has signed a deal with Xpress Money, a brand of United Arab Emirates-based payments and foreign exchange company Finablr, to facilitate and speed up remittances from the UAE to Pakistan and the Philippines for CBD clients. The system to be launched by the agreement would enable a… Continue Reading
CHANGE OF EVENT DATE & VENUE: marcus evans-organised Private Equity Summit moved back to Nov 4-6, to be held in Boston
The date and venue for Private Equity Summit organised by the marcus evans company has been changed – the event will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 4-6, not in Irving, Texas, on September 9-11 as we announced on July 5. The conference will be held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel in downtown… 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 coordinates $500m Islam-compliant syndicated loan for Pakistan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, has coordinated a $500m Islamic law-compliant syndicated loan for the government of Pakistan. The loan was provided by a consortium of 12 banks and was oversubscribed by more than 40 per cent, Emirates NBD said in a statement. The consortium comprised Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai,… Continue Reading
RenCap hires retail trade analyst, investment banking chief for S. Africa unit
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian-owned investment bank Renaissance Capital has made two senior appointments for its South African operation, hiring Funeka Beja-Maseko from Japan’s largest bank MUFG as retail trade analyst and Andrew Nkumbula from South African bank Absa as head of investment banking. Beja-Maseko will monitor the activities of South African retail companies and report… 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
Five of 1,600 applicant teams to get Sberbank money after passing accelerator filters
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has selected five out of about 1,600 applicant teams as recipients of funding from it after carrying through this year’s iteration of an internal startup accelerator aimed at grooming technology talent in its midst. The five emergent startups were picked from a nine-team shortlist during last week’s demo… 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
Russia’s Sberbank puts Alexander Belokopytov in charge of CIB ecosystem’s non-banking services
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has promoted Alexander Belokopytov, head of the largest Russian lender’s small and micro enterprises department, by putting him in charge of non-banking services in the ecosystem of the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division. Belokopytov will hold the rank of Sberbank vice-president in his new role, according to a statement from… Continue Reading
RenCap hires ex-central banker Sofya Donets to oversee Russia & CIS research
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital, one of Russia’s principal investment banks, has hired Sofya Donets, a former senior Russian central bank officer, as chief economist for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In her role at RenCap, a bank focusing on emerging and frontier markets worldwide, Donets replaces Oleg Kouzmin, who “moved to 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
Sberbank carries through top management moves
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has announced senior staff moves this month. Andrey Vanin, vice-president for the corporate client ecosystem, has been put at the head of SberX, a unit overseeing non-banking services in Sberbank Group, which brings together about 20 companies. In this capacity, he replaced Mark Zavadsky, who stayed on at… Continue Reading
First ETF listed on Astana Intl Exchange comes from ITI Funds
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Astana International Exchange (AIX) recently listed the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be traded on the bourse. Units of ITI EFT, which is a Russia-focused USD Eurobond ETF and is an instrument of Guernsey-based investment manager ITI Funds, are due to start being traded this month, according to a statement from… Continue Reading