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Headlines
Industry News "Abraaj Capital Announces Record US$1.2 Billion Second Closing of Its Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund" (Middle East) "GP Raises Additional US$275 Million for Latin Private Equity Fund" (Latin America and the Caribbean) "Mid-Europa Readies Region's Largest Buyout Fund" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "Advent International Agrees to Acquire Viena, Leading Brazilian Restaurant Operator" (Latin America and the Caribbean) "SEB Venture Capital to Acquire Up to 49 Percent Stake in Viginta UAB" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "Warburg to Invest US$110 Million in Havells" (Asia) "CVC Sets Large China Deal" (Asia) "Turkish Fund Triumphs Over Adversity With US$400 Million Fund Close" (Middle East) "East Capital Fund to Invest EUR150 Million in Russian Banks" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "U.S.-Based Intel Capital Plans Further Investments in Bulgarian IT Sector" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "Libya Starts to Deploy US$40 Billion Fund" (Africa) "Venture Capital Investment in China Tops US$2 Billion in Jan-Sept" (Asia) Industry News "Abraaj Capital Announces Record US$1.2 Billion Second Closing of Its Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund" (Middle East) AME Info (UAE) (10/16/07) Abraaj Capital, a private equity firm focused on the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA), has announced the second closing of its Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund (IGCF). Expected to be capped at US$2 billion by the time it closes for the final time before year's end, the fund has already generated commitments totaling US$1.7 billion, making it the largest private equity fund in the MENASA region. Already, Abraaj has made five investments through IGCF: a stake in low-cost carrier Air Arabia, the buyout of Egyptian Fertilizers Company (the largest private-equity-led buyout to date in the MENA region), a stake in Middle East K-12 education provider Global Education Management Systems, and a stake in Turkish healthcare operator Acibadem. Return to Headlines "GP Raises Additional US$275 Million for Latin Private Equity Fund" (Latin America and the Caribbean) Bloomberg (10/22/07) Marotto, Telma Latin America's largest private equity firm, GP Investimentos, has raised an additional US$275 million for its GP Capital Partners IV LP fund, which has formally closed with US$1.3 billion in committed capital. GP in August agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Brazilian maker of refractory tiles Magnesita for US$678.8 million and to purchase the Latin American drilling rigs of Prime International for US$1 billion. Return to Headlines "Mid-Europa Readies Region's Largest Buyout Fund" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) Reuters (10/16/07) Goldfarb, Jeffrey; Smith, Alexander Mid-Europa Partners is set to close on the largest buyout fund devoted to Central Europe. Originally setting a cap of EUR1.25 billion for the fund, Mid-Europa's third, the private equity group has raised EUR1.5 billion. The fund, while still dominated by commitments from European investors, has "significantly more" Middle Eastern and Asian investors than Mid-Europa's previous funds. The firm attributes the success of its latest fund to the region's continued growth rate and lower debt to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) buyout ratios. Among Mid-Europa's current holdings is Polish healthcare provider Lux-Med. Return to Headlines "Advent International Agrees to Acquire Viena, Leading Brazilian Restaurant Operator" (Latin America and the Caribbean) PRNewswire (10/15/07) Buyout firm Advent International has 100 percent of the leading casual dining restaurant chain in Brazil, Viena, for an undisclosed sum. This is Advent's third acquisition within the Latin American restaurant sector over the past 10 months, coming on the heels of the buyout of Mexican casual dining restaurant group La Mansion in November 2006 and the April acquisition of Group RA, the leading operator of restaurant concessions in Brazil's airports. Viena owns more than 60 restaurants in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian food-service industry generated US$19.3 billion in revenues last year, with the highly-fragmented fast food and casual dining segments representing about 40 percent of the total, fueled by a growing middle class and the expansion of the mall-based restaurant concept. Return to Headlines "SEB Venture Capital to Acquire Up to 49 Percent Stake in Viginta UAB" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) ABN Newswire (10/18/07) SEB Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of Northern European financial group SEB, has plans to acquire up to 49 percent of one of the largest cable operators in Lithuania, Viginta UAB. SEB Venture Capital says that is stepping up efforts in the Baltic region. Its parent has a local presence in the Baltic as well as the Ukraine and Russia. Viginta UAB was among the first cable operators in Lithuania to offer the "triple play" of broadband, cable television, and telephony services. Return to Headlines "Warburg to Invest US$110 Million in Havells" (Asia) Business Standard (India) (10/22/07) Warburg Pincus plans to acquire a 11.2 percent stake in one of the fastest growing electrical and power distribution equipment companies in India, Havells India, for US$110 million. Havells owns global brands Crabtree, Sylvania, Lumiance, and Zenith. Warburg Pincus has invested about US$2 billion in India over the past 12 years. Its investments in India include Ambuja Cements, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Lemon Tree Hotels. Return to Headlines "CVC Sets Large China Deal" (Asia) Wall Street Journal Online (10/22/07) Carew, Rick U.K. private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has acquired a 29 percent stake in Chinese plastic-bottle maker Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise, a supplier of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, for US$225 million. The purchase was made through CVC's Asia Pacific II Fund, a US$2 billion fund closed in May 2005 that is focused on China's industrial sector. CVC has a total of US$26 billion in capital under management and has invested in 28 companies in Asia, including five in Greater China. Return to Headlines "Turkish Fund Triumphs Over Adversity With US$400 Million Fund Close" (Middle East) Private Equity News (10/22/07) Craig, Catherine Turkish private equity firm Turkven has raised Turkey's largest buyout fund. The fund has closed at US$428 million, nearly 10 times the value of its first fund, which closed at US$44 million in 2002. Raised between January and July, the second fund drew commitments from global investors, about half of whom came from Europe. The success of the fund comes despite the threat of a military incursion into Iraq by Turkish forces to prevent Kurdish attacks and uncertainties as to whether Turkey will be allowed to join the European Union. Turkven's previous fund ran into difficulties in 2001 due to the country's currency crisis. Despite the success of the current fund, Turkven says it will maintain its informal cooperation agreement with buyout firm Advent International. Return to Headlines "East Capital Fund to Invest EUR150 Million in Russian Banks" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) Prime-Tass Business Newswire (10/19/07) The East Capital Explorer Financial Institutions Fund, managed by Swedish investment group East Capital, plans to invest EUR150 million in the Russian banking sector within a year. Established in January 2006, the fund has EUR500 million in capital, EUR150 million of which has not been invested yet. The fund currently has stakes in six Russian banks: Probusiness Bank, Sberbank, Locko Bank, Kolyma Bank, Bank Kedr, and Asian Pacific Bank. Return to Headlines "U.S.-Based Intel Capital Plans Further Investments in Bulgarian IT Sector" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) SeeNews (10/18/07) Tolsuzov, Aleksandar U.S.-based Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of U.S. chip maker Intel Corp. that specializes in making private equity investments in technology companies worldwide, says that Southeastern Europe in general and Bulgaria in particular are on its radar for further investments following the acquisition of a minority stake in Bulgarian telecoms and Internet services provider Nexcom in September. Intel Capital says it is also looking into investment opportunities in Romania and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In 2005, Intel Capital and Polish investment fund Enterprise Investors jointly purchased a 32.5 percent stake in software developer Siveco Romania. Return to Headlines "Libya Starts to Deploy US$40 Billion Fund" (Africa) Financial Times (10/17/07) Khalaf, Roula Libya has begun to deploy its US$40 billion sovereign wealth fund in a bid to diversify sources of income and reduce reliance on oil experts. The fund will at first concentrate on portfolio investments managed through western financial institutions as well as real estate worldwide and will look at private equity transactions after becoming more established. The Libyan Investment Authority, created to oversee the sovereign wealth fund, has already established a US$2 billion investment fund with its counterpart in Qatar to invest in Libya, Qatar, and western markets. The authority has also taken over the US$5 billion Libyan African investment portfolio. Return to Headlines "Venture Capital Investment in China Tops US$2 Billion in Jan-Sept" (Asia) Asia Pulse (10/16/07) Private equity investments in China reached US$2.009 billion for the first three quarters of 2007, surpassing the US$1.77 billion for all of last year and setting a new record. Furthermore, 15 China-focused funds raised a total of US$9.669 billion in the third quarter alone, a single-quarter high. Research institute and consultancy Zero2IPO, which compiled the figures, expects private equity investment in Asia to remain active in the fourth quarter, with the media and education industries joining traditional industries like manufacturing and real estate as targets for investment. For the future, the consultancy predicts more private equity investments in regional high-tech industries like alternative energy, especially wind power. Return to Headlines Abstract News © Copyright 2007 INFORMATION, INC. |
24 October 2007
Emerging Markets Private Equity NewsWatch provides a selection of noteworthy articles pertaining to private equity investing in emerging markets and is distributed weekly to a wide audience. The Emerging Markets Private Equity NewsWatch is a publication of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. For more information on EMPEA, please contact: To advertise, contact: Emerging Markets Private Equity Association  |