“Successful Investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” – Warren Buffet AFC Funds Performance Summary The AFC Asia Frontier Fund has recorded its 6th month of positive performance in… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Deals
Moscow Exchange to buy back two subsidiaries in consolidation scheme
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange will buy back two subsidiaries in a planned consolidation process to be completed by the end of 2016. Continue Reading
Russia’s BCS to officially launch business in N. America
By Andrei Skvarsky. BCS Global Markets, a key Russian securities broker, will officially launch business in North America within a couple of weeks after a current transaction in which it is buying out Alforma Capital Markets, a US subsidiary of Russia’s Alfa-Bank, is due to be completed. Continue Reading
Goldman Sachs said to have bought stake in Russian online recruitment firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Goldman Sachs is said to be among investors that have bought out online recruitment agency HeadHunter (hh.ru) from Mail.Ru Group, a leading Russian Internet company listed on London Stock Exchange, for 10bn roubles (about $145.5m at the current market exchange rate). Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange : Derivatives trade doubles in volume year-on-year
By Andrei Skvarsky. Trade in securities, money and precious metals on Moscow Exchange has grown significantly year-on-year with sales of derivatives more than doubling and those of precious metals nearly trebling, the bourse said. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange reports record client activity in derivatives, forex segments
Moscow Exchange has said it had record client activity in its derivatives and foreign exchange segments in February. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange reports booming securities, FX trade despite Russia’s woes
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange has said the turnover of financial instruments, money and precious metals on its trading floors has grown massively year on year, with sales of foreign exchange increasing by two and half times and those of derivatives nearly doubling. Continue Reading
Lamudi property trader raises 29m euros for Asia, Latin America business
By Andrei Skvarsky. Lamudi, an online real estate trader focusing on emerging and frontier markets, has raised 29m euros ($31.4m) in investment to grow its operations in Latin America and Asia. Continue Reading
Property portal Bayut.com raises $20m in 3rd round of venture funding
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai-based online real estate dealer Bayut.com has raised $20m in the third of three rounds of venture investment. Continue Reading
Sberbank lending $340m for Arctic oil transport project
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has agreed to lend $340m to Russia’s biggest shipping company for an Arctic oil shipment project. Continue Reading
Russia’s VTB Capital debuts in German M&A market
By Andrei Skvarsky. VTB Capital, the investment arm of Russia’s second-biggest bank VTB, has enlarged its international record of advice on mergers and acquisitions with the first M&A deal it helped to carry through in Germany. Continue Reading
Sberbank, Uber ride-hailing app consider co-designing payment technology
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, and ride-hailing app service Uber have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore ways of co-developing payment technology. Continue Reading
Sberbank, Sakhalin govt sign deal on online fish sales
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, and the government of the country’s Sakhalin island have signed a deal to set up a fish exchange for declared purposes such as replacement of nearly all fish imports in the Russian market with Russian-caught fish. Continue Reading
Oceanwood Raises $250M Fund For Bets on European Economic Recovery
Oceanwood Capital Management has raised $250 million in a new hedge fund to capitalize on economic recovery in Europe. Oceanwood has raised the capital from existing investors and plans to have a $350 million final close for the fund in September, according to a Reuters report. The new fund, named Oceanwood Peripheral European Select Opportunities… Continue Reading
Wong to Launch Long/Short Asian Equity Fund
Former TPG-Axon partner Wesley Wong is prepping an Asian-themed long/short equity fund for a third-quarter 2015 launch. Wong’s Oxbow Capital Management (HK) is reportedly in advanced discussions with Reservoir Capital Management regarding a $150 million stake, according to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources. It would be Reservoir’s first seed investment in an Asian-based startup,… Continue Reading
Carlyle Raises €565M For Third European Technology Buyout Fund
Global alternative investments powerhouse Carlyle Group has closed on its third European technology and media buyout fund, raising €656 million. It is the company’s largest such fund to date. The fund, named Carlyle Europe Technology Partners III, shows the global appetite for tech and media companies in the region. It began raising money a year… Continue Reading
Carlyle Group Buys Sterling Resources’ Romanian Gas Fields
Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP) announced plans to purchase Sterling Resources’ Romanian gas fields. The news comes just a few days after the private equity fund announced it had raised $2.5 billion to purchase global energy assets. With the slump in oil prices hammering Sterling’s revenue streams, the deal allowed Carlyle to snap up at… Continue Reading
Carlyle Raises $2.5 Billion for New International Energy Fund
Carlyle Group has closed on a new international energy fund with commitments of $2.5 billion from 160 investors, according to media reports. The new fund, which surpassed Carlyle’s initial $1.5 billion target, will invest exclusively in oil and gas projects located outside the U.S. Carlyle is in good company. Since the collapse in oil prices… Continue Reading
Brazil's Peninsula Forming New Distressed Asset Fund As Bankruptcies Surge
Brazilian asset management firm Peninsula Investimentos is launching a distressed-asset fund. Backed by Credit Suisse Group, the fund is expected to be around R$500 million, or approximately $155 million. The company has brought on five new staff members for the effort, according to media reports quoting CEO Antonio Quintella, and will begin raising the fund… Continue Reading
Private Equity Deals in Africa Hit $8.1 Billion in 2014
The total value of private equity deals in Africa in 2014 hit $8.1 billion, the second-highest level on record. Fueled by population growth and increased political stabilization, global PE interest is rising on the continent. Last year’s total was just shy of the 2007 record of $8.3 billion, according to African Private Equity and Venture… Continue Reading
Runa Capital invests €3 million in Finnish open source database solution provider MariaDB Corp.
Last week Runa Capital, a venture firm operating globally from its offices in Moscow and San Francisco, announced a €3 million investment in MariaDB Corporation, a global software vendor specializing in high availability, high performance and highly scalable open source database solutions. Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, MariaDB (also known as SkySQL) aims to become “the… Continue Reading
EBRD and KICB finance improvements for Ak Bermet resort on Lake Issyk-Kul
Lake Issyk-Kul is one of the most famous sights in the Kyrgyz Republic and Central Asia. With appropriate investment, the area has the potential for further promotion as an attractive holiday resort. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and KICB, its local partner bank, are supporting further development of this tourist attraction by… Continue Reading
Mongolia’s XacBank lending $10m to Mongolia Holdings rental firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. XacBank, one of Mongolia’s largest banks, has agreed to lend $10m to Mongolia Holdings, the Hertz Equipment Rental franchisee for Mongolia, as the first tranche of a proposed $40m credit line from the lender. Continue Reading
Russian fund Target Ventures leads 20-million-euro round in international cruise booking portal Dreamlines
Source – East-West Digital News The Hamburg-based startup Dreamlines announced yesterday it secured 20 million euros in C Round financing from an international pool of investors led by Target Ventures. Continue Reading
B2B software integrator Mirantis raises $100 million in record Series B round
Mirantis, a California-based systems integrator with teams in several countries including Russia and Ukraine, has closed a $100 million series B round with the participation of Insight Venture Partners and August Capital. They were joined by existing investors Intel Capital, WestSummit Capital, Ericsson, and Sapphire Ventures (formerly SAP Ventures). Continue Reading
Social alarm clock Wakie secured $1 million from Leta Capital and Titanium Investments
Leta Capital, the venture arm of Russian IT security solution provider Leta Group, and Titanium Investments, an international venture fund with Russian connections, have invested $1 million in Wakie, the developer of a social alarm clock. Continue Reading
SKOLKOVO RESIDENT SIGNS DEAL WORTH $41 MILLION WITH CHINESE FIRM
Optogard Nanotech, a resident at Skolkovo, has signed a deal with Chinese pipe manufacturing firmShandong Industry. Optogard will supply the Chinese company with laser-plasma facilities, which will form the basis of their pipe production. The contract is worth $41 million in total. Continue Reading
VTB CAPITAL I2BF INNOVATION PARTNERS INVEST $6 MILLION IN SELECTA BIOSCIENCE
VTB Capital I2BF Innovation Partners have recently injected $6 million into biotech company Selecta Biosciences, which is working on the development of a new class of target, antigen-specific immunotherapy. Continue Reading
Almaz Capital leads $4 million funding round in US e-commerce solution provider
Content Analytics, an analytics platform that recommends e-commerce catalog optimization strategies, announced it secured a $4 million Series A funding led by Almaz Capital. Geoffrey Baehr, a general partner at Almaz Capital, has joined the startup’s board of directors. Continue Reading