By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Renaissance Capital has announced two senior promotions, appointing two bankers as global co-heads of investment banking. One of the appointees is Alexander Merzlenko, who has been president of Renaissance Capital Russia since December 2012 and will combine this position with his new job. The other is Ron Golan, who joined RenCap… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Central Eastern Europe
Sberbank abolishes commissions for ATM use in Turkey, Croatia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank has made cash withdrawals from its ATMs in Croatia and from those of its subsidiary Denizbank in Turkey commission-free for holders of Sberbank debit cards. There will be zero commission for holders of Visa Classic, MasterCard Standard, Visa Gold, MasterCard Gold, Visa Platinum and MasterCard Platinum cards if they use ATMs… Continue Reading
Macquarie in full control of infrastructure fund as RenCap, Renaissance Group pull out
By Andrei Skvarsky. Macquarie, a global financial services provider, has become the sole manager of a major infrastructure investment fund, an entity it used to co-manage with Renaissance Capital and Renaissance Group. RenCap and Renaissance Group ceded their co-managerial roles to Macquarie under an agreement which, via the takeover of RenCap’s stake, doubled the Australia-based firm’s… Continue Reading
Russia’s Unicorn Capital buys key maker of glass facades
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based buyout fund Unicorn Capital Partners with target capitalisation of $500m has announced its first acquisition, the purchase of controlling interest in Constanta Group, one of Russia’s largest designers and manufacturers of translucent façade systems and other glass products. Unicorn, whose main objective is to buy out undervalued small and medium enterprises… Continue Reading
GUEST ARTICLE: Do IT with Poland – IT sector as powerhouse of Polish economy
By Jakub Smela, Public Relations Manager, M Promotion Agency, Warsaw. A strong Polish representation at this year’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles is a good reason to take a closer look at the dynamically growing Polish sector of new information and communication technologies. It was not without a reason, that during his last visit to… Continue Reading
Unicorn Capital PE fund raises $100m since 2012
By Andrei Skvarsky. Unicorn Capital Partners, an emerging markets-focused private equity fund set up last year, has carried out the first phase of its capitalisation plan by raising $100m. Unicorn, which is based in Vienna and has a target size of $500m, seeks to invest in small and medium enterprises and middle-market companies in sectors… Continue Reading
BGC Partners Appoints Jean-Jack Badet
BGC Partners announced the appointment of Jean-Jack Badet as general manager of its business in Switzerland. Based in Nyon, Badet will be responsible for all of BGC’s financial products business in Switzerland and helping drive business growth in Switzerland. Badet has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. He joins BGC from Tradition, where… Continue Reading
East Capital Real Estate signs new deal in Riga
East Capital Baltic Property Fund II has acquired a retail property in Riga, which is long term leased to Prisma Hypermarket (‘Prisma’). The property is located on Deglava street in Riga, one of the main traffic arteries eastbound from the city, and in the middle of a densely populated residential area. The retail property has… Continue Reading
Sberbank brand launched in Croatia
Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has launched its brand in Croatia by changing the name of its subsidiary in the Balkan country from Volksbank Croatia to Sberbank Croatia. Sberbank Croatia’s flagship branch in Zagreb offers the full range of financial services to both retail and corporate clients. By July the subsidiary will have branches in tourist… Continue Reading
AB InBev, CVC Capital in legal battle over StarBev sale earn-out
CVC Capital Partners has found itself in legal hot water with its only new investment in the CEE region – the deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev and StarBev. CVC’s sale of StarBev to Molson Coors in April 2012 has triggered AB InBev to claim earn-out money. However, CVC claims that during the holding period, it invested “heavily” in brand development, marketing and… Continue Reading
Cyprus bailout defended by high-profile French economist Wyplosz
By Andrei Skvarsky. Prominent French economist Charles Wyplosz, at an event hosted by Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, defended the controversial EU/IMF bailout plan for Cyprus. It’s banks that are to blame for the crisis, and so it’s fair that those who keep money in them should share the burden of it, Professor Wyplosz told The Russia Forum, a… Continue Reading
EAST CAPITAL COMMENT: In Eastern Europe, politics not economics impact risk
By Marcus Svedberg, Chief Economist The global economy is recovering and the risks have decreased, but it remains a fragile recovery – especially in Europe. In Eastern Europe, policies rather than economics exacerbate the swings in global risk appetite. Going forward, I believe the market will continue to focus more on corporate news and major macro… Continue Reading
Financing Sustainable Energy Investment for Bulgarian Business
Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed a second line of credit under the Bulgarian Programme for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (BEERECL). This will allow Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) to expand financing for sustainable energy investment by private companies in Bulgaria. The EBRD loan of €7.5 million will be… Continue Reading
Wermuth Asset Management significantly outperforms Russian market
Wermuth Asset Management, a Russia-focused German family office, has announced that its quant funds have significantly outperformed a peer group of 50 in the Russian market over the past five years, and have continued to do so in 2013. Wermuth Leveraged Quant Eastern Europe Strategy Fund (WEELS+) has been the best-performing fund with returns of… Continue Reading
New Governor of the Bank for Slovenia
Following the change of government in Slovenia, Mr Uroš Čufer has been appointed Minister of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia and took office on 21 March 2013, succeeding Mr Janez Šušteršič. Mr Čufer also becomes EIB Governor for the Republic of Slovenia. From 2004 until his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr Čufer served… Continue Reading
New Governor of the Bank for Malta
Following the general election in Malta on 9 March 2013, Mr Edward Scicluna has taken office as Minister for Finance. Mr Scicluna also becomes EIB Governor for the Republic of Malta. He was also elected in 2009 to the European Parliament where he served for four years as Vice-Chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs… Continue Reading
Investors won’t regret putting money into Polish IT – govt
By Andrei Skvarsky. Poland’s government has launched a promotion programme for the country’s booming information and communication technology sector and invites investors into the industry. {{{*}}} The European Union-funded IT/ICT Business Promotion Programme, launched by Poland’s Economy Ministry, aims to create new Polish brands and will be publicised through planned roadshows in Poland, Germany, Norway,… Continue Reading
EBRD loan to restore and modernise steel production in Croatia
The EBRD is supporting the efforts to restart production at the steel factory in Sisak in central Croatia. The location has a long history of steel operations and has been a major employer. The Sisak Ironworks have been acquired by the Italian company Danieli and their steel company ABS, currently embarking on a restructuring and… Continue Reading
Abris closes latest CEE fund on €450m
Abris has exceeded expectations to reach hard-cap for its Abris Capital Fund II {{{*}}} – despite no exits since the GP was founded in 2007. Abris Capital Partners has reached its hard-cap of €450m for a final close on its second fund targeting the CEE mid-market. A total of 21 investors came into the fund,… Continue Reading
Home Credit receives bids totalling $300m for Russian bonds
Home Credit, one of Europe’s leading retail lenders, has pulled off a highly successful securities project in Russia, {{{*}}} with a total of 9.4bn rubles ($300m) offered for bonds issued by its Russian subsidiary – more than three times their total par value. Sberbank CIB, the investment banking arm of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, Raiffeisenbank… Continue Reading
Hungary’s Primus Capital launches iCatapult-designed acceleration programme
Hungarian venture capital investment company Primus Capital – unrelated to the Cleveland-based firm of the same name – is putting up a 400m-forint ($1.77m) fund to launch a newly-designed business acceleration programme in seeking access to the U.S. market for Hungarian technology companies. {{{?}}} The programme, designed by New York-based technology firm iCatapult, involves a… Continue Reading
Moldova seventh country to join in probes set off by Magnitsky accusations
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moldova has become the seventh country to try to track down the $230m stolen from the Russian state by senior Russian officials in an alleged tax scam uncovered by Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. {{{*}}} Hermitage claims it has obtained documents indicating that in 2008 a $53m chunk of the money was… Continue Reading
East Capital exits ELKO computer wholesaler as sales go up
{{{?:0}}} East Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm with 3.8bn euros under management, has sold out of after helping the Riga-headquartered computer wholesaler to stabilise and boost its business. East Capital has made a profit of 36% on its 8.8% interest in ELKO since it acquired the stake in 2005, according to a… 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
Bank of Georgia’s investment case marred by political uncertainty – RenCap
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital analysts warn that investing in Bank of Georgia, until now one of the best-performing banks within the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, poses some risks today due to post-election political uncertainty in its home country. Georgian Dream, a coalition that beat the ruling United National Movement (UNM) in Georgia’s parliamentary… Continue Reading
VTB Capital CEE's debt capital market leader – Dealogic
By Andrei Skvarsky. VTB Capital holds the top position in terms of debt capital deals volume in Central and Eastern Europe in a league table for 2012 compiled by Dealogic, a global financial consultancy and information provider. The brokerage arm of Russia’s VTB Group was also the number one organiser of Eurobond issues in Russia and… Continue Reading
RenCap “most innovative bank” in CEE – The Banker
Renaissance Capital has been declared this year’s “most innovative bank” in Central and Eastern Europe by The Banker, a Financial Times group monthly and a leading source of global financial information. RenCap’s rivals on the award shortlist were VTB Capital and Troika Dialog, which has been renamed Sberbank CIB with the exception of its asset… Continue Reading
Deutsche Bank's CEEMEA top brass part company with senior figure
By Andrei Skvarsky. Deutsche Bank has parted company with Saleh Romeih, head of central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at the firm’s capital markets and treasury solutions (CMTS) unit. Nizar Al-Bassam, head of markets sales and coverage for the region, has been named as Romeih’s replacement, according to Bloomberg. Romeih is credited with… Continue Reading
VTB inhales one of Europe’s main cigarette makers
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s VTB Capital has completed the acquisition of Bulgartabac, one of Europe’s leading cigarette manufacturers. The investment banking arm of state-owned VTB Group, Russia’s second biggest lender, said in a statement it had paid 100.1m euros ($136.8m) for its 79.83% stake in the Sofia-based company. The terms of the deal include commitments… Continue Reading