Renaissance Capital has appointed Alexander Merzlenko as its president for Russia, adding his new role to his current jobs as head of Russian investment banking and deputy chief executive of the Moscow-headquartered investment bank. Merzlenko’s promotion is the next high-level personnel move at the emerging markets-focused firm after its takeover by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Almaz Capital Partners invests in Russian Square clone 2can
Russian Square copycat 2can has secured $400,000 in funding from a new investor, Almaz Capital Partners. Mobile card acquiring service 2can was officially launched in Russia in September 2012, but founded a year earlier, in November 2011. It offers customers the chance to transform their smartphones running iOS or Android into mobile POS terminals with… Continue Reading
UFG Private Equity appoints Arthur Akopyan as Partner
Arthur Akopyan joins UFG Private Equity from NGI venture capital fund. He brings 15 years of operational and corporate finance experience in telecoms, media and IT services. Prior to UFG Private Equity, from 2008 he performed restructuring work for several Russian financial holdings with a main focus on telecommunications and IT. During this time Arthur… Continue Reading
Sberbank takes majority stake in Yandex.Money
Russia’s Sberbank is to spend $60 million for a majority stake in Yandex.Money, the online payment business of Russian search engine Yandex. The companies are to form a joint venture through the acquisition by Sberbank of a 75% (minus one share) interest in Yandex.Money, with Yandex retaining a blocking interest in the JV with 25%.… Continue Reading
East Capital Buys Lithuanian Mall Gedimino 9
East Capital, Swedish-based asset management firm, has purchased a Lithuanian shopping mall in Vilnius from Ektornet, a subsidiary of the Swedbank Group. The mall, called Gedimino 9, will benefit from the funding by getting improvements to its commercial aspects as well as a re-shaping and brand positioning in the near future. The deal was completed through… Continue Reading
Otkritie announces changes to its Board of Directors
Otkritie Financial Corporation today announces the election of new members to its Board of Directors. Vadim Belyaev has been appointed Chairman of the Board and Boris Mints, who previously held the position, will remain the President of Otkritie Financial Corporation. Ruben Aganbegyan, CEO of Otkritie Financial Corporation, and Johannes Boerner, Deputy CEO, will form the… Continue Reading
EBRD nearly doubles syndicated loan raised for Russian Rosbank
A syndicated loan raised by the EBRD for Rosbank, a Russian private bank controlled by France’s Societe Generale group, has been heavily oversubscribed and the total loan amount nearly doubled to USD 290 million due to strong interest from commercial banks. A total of 11 international banks are participating in the USD 230 million syndication… Continue Reading
BAML hires RenCap ex-boss to run Russian business
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired Alexander Pertsovsky, a former chief executive of Renaissance Capital, to head its Russian operation. Pertsovsky, who takes up the reins at BAML in February, will also join the American bank’s executive committee for Europe and the emerging markets, excluding Asia, according to Reuters. BAML, which has not yet… Continue Reading
JPMorgan Chase appoints Martin Marron as CEO of LatAm
JPMorgan Chase has recently appointed Martin Marron as CEO of Latin America. Marron will also continue to serve as head of Americas sales and trading for global emerging markets, a position he has held since 2007, which includes oversight for teams in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and New York. He will be responsible for overseeing all… Continue Reading
NOMOS-BANK makes new senior appointments
New senior appointments have been made in the management team of NOMOS-BANK. Yelena Budnik is appointed Senior Vice President of NOMOS-BANK. In this role, Yelena will lead the Bank’s retail business. Alexey Karahan is appointed Senior Vice President in charge of both Strategic Communications and HR departments. Dmitry Romaev is appointed Advisor to the President of NOMOS-BANK. He will be responsible for the coordination of NOMOS-BANK integration into the structure… Continue Reading
Marguerite Fund expands its wind farm portfolio with the acquisition of a stake in an 80 MW project in Romania
The Marguerite Fund announced today that it has acquired a 50% stake in the Chirnogeni (80MW) wind farm in Romania, from Cyprus-based developer EP Global Energy, which will remain a 20% shareholder. The project, which is about to start construction, comprises 32 Nordex N90/2500 2.5MW wind turbines for a total installed capacity of 80MW. It… Continue Reading
Elbrus Capital buys out stake in Russian Delivery Co SPSR-Express
Elbrus Capital, Russian venture capital firm, has bought out Svarog Capital Advisors‘ stake in Russian express delivery company SPSR-Express. Svarog’s investment vehicle in the holding was the Russian Retail Growth Fund, which has exited partially from the delivery company as a stakeholder. Elbrus managing partner Dmitri Krukov led the transaction for the buyer, while Svarog was… Continue Reading
Mail.ru early investor adds $75 Mln to IMI.VC
IMI.VC, the investment company founded by Igor Matsanyuk, has bagged USD 75 mln from one of the early investors in Mail.ru – Mikhail Vinchel. Along with Gregory Finger, another Mail.ru investor in the early stage, the three form the board of directors for IMI.VC. Social gaming player Game Insight and Farminers (mobile incubator) are products of the… Continue Reading
Softline Goes Mobile with Apps4All Russia
Softline Venture Partners have made their first investment in the mobile applications sector with a USD 500,000 equity purchase in Apps4All, a Russian platform where mobile app developers can participate in training, events, research and other activities along with their peers in the industry. In 2011, Softline made investments in the range of USD 100,000 to USD… Continue Reading
Grishin Robotics Invests $250,000 Into the RobotAppStore
Grishin Robotics, the personal robotics fund kickstarted by Mail.Ru Group co-founder and CEO Dmitry Grishin, has pumped $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an open, online marketplace for robotics applications. The investment firm had earlier backed Y Combinator graduate Double Robotics with the exact same amount. In both cases, detailed terms of the deal were not disclosed. RobotAppStore… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT FROM CHRIS WEAFER: Russia in context – an expected journey
By Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist, Sberbank Investment Research. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit US budget worries have balanced out macro optimism. Markets have been in something of a zero-sum game in recent weeks as the lingering concern over… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Fixed income – 2013 preview: nothing is (im)possible
By Alexander Kudrin, Head of Fixed Income Research, Managing Director, Sberbank Investment Reseach. The performance of most bonds at end 2012 promises to be impressive. Liquidity njections by leading central banks, the main tool against the financial crisis, have sent interest rates in developed markets down to almost zero. Moreover, the key guide for such… Continue Reading
Fastlane Ventures booster of startups gets Kazakh tycoon Rakishev on board
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fastlane Ventures, a Moscow-based venture capital firm specialising in support for startup Web businesses, has given a seat on its board to Kenges Rakishev, a Kazakh tycoon and high-profile international technology industry investor. Fastlane received a $13m investment from Rakishev, according to a statement from the company, which takes about 50 days… Continue Reading
VTB Capital issues Micex index-linked ruble bonds
Moscow-based VTB Capital has issued ruble bonds to a total of one billion rubles ($32m) linked to the Micex index. International rating agency Moody’s has assigned a rating of Baa1 to the bonds, which have a tenor of a little more than a year and have been put on sale at Moscow’s Micex stock exchange.… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Muddling through with modernization
By Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Chief Economist, Managing Director, Sberbank CIB. Economic growth slows. GDP rose 2.9% y_o_y in 3Q12. Formally, GDP growth slowed from 4.5% over 1H12, but this was due mainly to a 5.6% drop in agricultural output in 3Q12, versus an increase of 29.7% in 3Q11. Although growth decelerated in other sectors, such as… Continue Reading
VTB Capital appoints Lewis Wong as Head of Asia Illiquid Credit Trading
VTB Capital has appointed Lewis Wong as Managing Director, Head of Illiquid Credit Trading, Asia, to take the responsibility for the regional development of illiquid credit trading. He will be based in Hong Kong and will report directly to Roman Nagaev, Head of Investment, Credit & Project Finance, and regionally to Damian Chunilal, CEO Asia at… Continue Reading
Ukraine: First snowfall already turning to slush
By Conal Campbell of www.Growth-Communications.com. The week started with twin signs of optimism with the government of Mykola Azarov resigning (with the hope being that he may be replaced as PM by National Bank governor and relative liberal Sergiy Arbuzov) and announcement of an official IMF visit aiming to restart cooperation to help Ukraine meet its… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Credit Suisse banker to look after UHNWIs
Sberbank has announced it has hired Vasiliy Sofiyskiy from Credit Suisse to head the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) unit in the newly set-up private banking arm of Russia’s biggest lender. Sofiysky’s arrival at Sberbank Private Banking and other recent senior hires by Sberbank are part of a major buildout of business launched by the lender in 2011… Continue Reading
RenCap appoints John Hyman, Igor Vayn as co-CEOs
Renaissance Capital has divided the job of chief executive officer between two bankers by promoting John Hyman, who joined the Russian investment bank last year, and hiring Igor Vayn from Otkritie. Hyman was also appointed as chairman of the Moscow-based company, according to a statement from the firm. Hyman was interim chief executive after Stephen… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires manager from UBS to help get private banking off the ground
Sberbank Private Banking, a newly set-up division of Russia’s Sberbank, has given a senior managerial role to Anna Tokaeva from Swiss bank UBS, where she has held top positions in wealth and asset management. Tokaeva spent 12 years with UBS, being posted in Chicago and Moscow, before coming over to help develop what is a new… Continue Reading
Ukraine: Downgraded growth, downgraded ambitions
By Conal Campbell of www.Growth-Communications.com. Ukraine’s government has approved its macroeconomic forecast for 2013, projecting GDP growth of 3.4% (vs. 0% expected this year) in line with the latest IMF forecast but exceeding Kiev based Dragon Capital’s projection of 2.5%. With Ukraine’s GDP growth expected to under-perform most regional peers on the back of a deteriorating investment… Continue Reading
VTB pulls off $107.1m securitisation deal with Investtradebank
VTB Capital has pulled off a 3.3bn-ruble ($107.1m) deal to securitise a mortgage portfolio for Investtradebank, a Moscow-based lender also known as Investtorgbank. The senior tranche of the mortgage securities, placed on Moscow stock exchange Micex by open tender, is expected to raise about 2.4bn rubles ($77.8m) for Investtradebank, according to a statement from the… Continue Reading
RenCap: Africa a great place to invest
By Andrei Skvarsky. A Renaissance Capital team of analysts have brought out a book making a passionate case for investment in Africa, crediting the continent’s economy with developing by leaps and bounds. “The economies of most African nations have transformed beyond recognition, and are set to surpass the growth seen in Asia and India over… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires head of equities portfolio management
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank Asset Management has hired Roman Filatov, a banker with nearly 20 years’ experience, as head of equities portfolio management. Filatov held senior roles at Russia’s Renaissance Investment Management in 2008-2009 and at Templeton Asset Management for 11 years before that. He arrives at Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, from IXIA Asset… Continue Reading