Bankers, consultants, lawyers and others are going to get together at an alternative investing conference in California early in December to look at a range of issues such as risks, asset allocation options, and cost cutting options. The agenda for the Alternative Investing Summit in Dana Point on December 4-6 also includes opportunities in emerging… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
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
Sberbank moves into logistics market via SberLogistics subsidiary
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, in pursuing a diversification strategy, has moved into the country’s logistics market via SberLogistics, a newly founded subsidiary that has already put in place an extensive nationwide deliveries network and has large-scale near-term development plans. SberLogistics, which is based in Moscow and was set up in May 2019… Continue Reading
Uzbekistan reforms aim to build domestic capital market
By Quinn Martin, Managing Partner, Frontier.* Uzbekistan is on a roll with its economic reforms. This year alone, the country has issued a wildly successful debut Eurobond, kicked off an ambitious privatisation program, lifted restrictions on repatriation of corporate profits and floated its currency, thus eliminating a troublesome dual exchange rate system. Investors – both… 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
HYCM broker to run 1-day course on Gulf-centred advanced forex trade
By Andrei Skvarsky. London-headquartered foreign exchange (forex) broker HYCM is going to run a one-day training course in Dubai on November 1 on Gulf-centred advanced forex trade. “Becoming a Pro Trader: Master the Forex Market” will be a three-part course and will be in English. The parts are “embrace fundamental and technical analysis”, “monitor sentiment,… Continue Reading
AfDB, S. Korean govt paying for search for ways to diversify Angola exports
By Andrei Skvarsky. The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the South Korean government are funding a study aimed at finding ways to improve the business environment in Angola and diversify its exports. The money for the research, commissioned by the Angolan government, comes via the KOAFEC Trust Fund, a bilateral facility set up by the… 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
Nedbank co-sponsoring event to boost women’s role in African economies
By Andrei Skvarsky. Nedbank, one of South Africa’s biggest lenders, is co-sponsoring a planned high-profile conference late this month that aims to promote the role of women in African economies. The theme of the conference, to be held in Cape Town on October 29-30, is “Enhancing Impact: Digitalisation, Investment and Intra-African Trade”, according to the… 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
Paxful bitcoin bourse upbeat about use of cryptos in Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. According to bitcoin exchange Paxful, African businesses use cryptocurrencies on a rapidly increasing scale and many Africans see them as an opportunity to start a business. Africa is the “fastest-growing customer base” of the Delaware-based exchange company, Paxful said in a statement, putting its global number of users at nearly three million.… Continue Reading
Sberbank says sensational data theft fully solved
By Andrei Skvarsky. The source of last week’s sensational leak of Sberbank credit card details took “hours” to find out, Russia’s biggest lender said in announcing that the theft had been fully solved. The bank said in a statement that the data, which were put on sale in the black market, had been stolen by… Continue Reading
VC4A names 12 African startups to pitch to investors at Cape Town forum
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
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
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, 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
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