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Industry News "Private Equity Companies CCMP, MBK, TPG Eye Himart for US$2 Billion" (Asia) "Sawiris Close to Selling 20-25 Percent of Weather to 3 Funds for EUR1 Billion" (Africa) "Argentina Private Equity Fund Pegasus Capital Buys Farmacity" (Latin America and the Caribbean) "Serbian Firm Lures Private Equity" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "CVC Clinches Nien Made Purchase" (Asia) "3i to Invest US$700-800 Million a Year in Asia, Focus on Oil" (Asia) "South Africa Courts US Funds" (Africa) "Global Emerging Markets and Fiduciaria Bogota to Raise US$220 Million Colombia Fund" (Latin America and the Caribbean) "Poland's Enterprise Investors Sells Romanian Retailer Artima to French Carrefour for EUR55 Million" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) "Injazat Technology Fund Achieves 75 Percent Internal Rate of Return" (Middle East) "AfriCap Closes Record Deal" (Africa) "Equity International Eyes Libya, Raises US$500 Million Fund" (Middle East) Industry News "Private Equity Companies CCMP, MBK, TPG Eye Himart for US$2 Billion" (Asia) Dow Jones Newswires (10/30/07) Gopalan, Nisha Private equity firms CCMP Capital Asia, MBK Partners of South Korea, and TPG Capital are bidding for Himart, South Korea's leading electronics retailer, from Hong Kong-based buyout firm Affinity Equity Partners. CCMP was close to signing a deal for about US$1.3 billion from Affinity earlier this year as the U.S. subprime crisis hit, persuading Affinity to hold an auction to seek a higher valuation. An Affinity-led consortium bought Himart in April 2005 for US$787.8 million. Affinity is now looking to sell the company for about US$2 billion. Return to Headlines "Sawiris Close to Selling 20-25 Percent of Weather to 3 Funds for EUR1 Billion" (Africa) CNNMoney (11/02/07) Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris is reportedly close to selling a 20-25 percent stake in telecom holding company Weather Investments to a consortium of private equity firms consisting of Apax Partners, Goldman Sachs Equity Partner, and TA & Partners for about EUR1 billion. Under the agreement, Sawiris will retain the right to buy back the stake if the firms fail to exit the company through a listing within two years. Return to Headlines "Argentina Private Equity Fund Pegasus Capital Buys Farmacity" (Latin America and the Caribbean) Dow Jones Newswires (11/01/07) Saitto, Serena Argentine private equity firm Pegasus Capital has acquired Farmacity, Argentina's largest pharmacy chain, for a reported US$110 million. Farmacity has 94 branches in Argentina. Pegasus Capital's other local acquisitions include music retailer Musimundo, ice cream chain Freddo, and coffee shop chain Aroma. Return to Headlines "Serbian Firm Lures Private Equity" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) Wall Street Journal Online (11/01/07) Davey, Nicolette Greek buyout firm Marfin Investment Group has acquired a two-thirds stake in Serbian department store chain JSC Robne kuce A Beograd (RKB) for EUR360. RKB operates 32 department stores in Serbia. The deal is the third largest private equity transaction in the Balkans to date; the largest was this year's purchase of a 65 percent stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications by AIG Investments for EUR1.08 billion. Last year, 12 buyout deals worth a total of US$62 million were completed in the region, according to Thomson Financial. Thus far in 2007, 17 deals worth US1.5 billion have been completed. Return to Headlines "CVC Clinches Nien Made Purchase" (Asia) Financial Times (10/29/07) Tucker, Sundeep CVC Capital Partners has secured shareholder acceptance for the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Taiwan's Nien Made Enterprise, the world's leading window shutter maker, for US$750 million as part of a management buyout. The deal is said to have secured regulatory approval and could reassure private equity firms in one of the few Asian markets where dealmakers can launch buyouts of listed companies. The Carlyle Group earlier this year dropped a US$6 billion takeover bid for Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering due, some analysts believe, to a lack of government backing. CVC Capital last week acquired a 29 percent stake in Chinese plastic bottles maker Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise for US$225 million. Return to Headlines "3i to Invest US$700-800 Million a Year in Asia, Focus on Oil" (Asia) Reuters (10/31/07) British private equity firm 3i says it plans to invest between US$700 million and US$800 million a year over the next five years in Asia, particularly in the region's oil and gas sector. These energy sector investments will include not only exploration and production companies but equipment and service providers as well. Earlier this year, 3i invested in Singapore-based Franklin Offshore, a provider of lifting, mooring, and marine equipment to energy and marine companies. More recently, 3i acquired a minority stake in Adani Power of India for US$227 million in October. Return to Headlines "South Africa Courts US Funds" (Africa) Financial Times (11/01/07) Arnold, Martin A recent gathering of U.S. investors in South Africa brought together representatives from Washington State University, the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, the Los Angeles City Fire & Police Retirement System, and others looking for buyout opportunities in sub-Sahara Africa. Opportunities on the continent were recently highlighted by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's US$5.6 billion investment in Standard Bank of South Africa and the sale of a stake in Togo-based Ecobank for three times the initial investment by U.S.-based private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners. Private equity funds focused on sub-Sahara Africa raised about US$2 billion through October, compared to US$2.35 billion in all of 2006 and less than US$1 billion in 2005. Interest by private equity firms in the region was demonstrated by the acquisition of South African retailer Edgar's Consolidated Stores by Bain Capital for US$3.5 billion earlier this year. Return to Headlines "Global Emerging Markets and Fiduciaria Bogota to Raise US$220 Million Colombia Fund" (Latin America and the Caribbean) Business Wire (11/02/07) The Global Emerging Markets (GEM) Group and Banco de Bogota subsidiary Fiduciaria Bogota S.A. (Fidubogota) have agreed to jointly raise and sponsor a US$220 million private equity fund focused on Colombia. The GEM-Fidubogota Colombia Private Equity Fund will acquire controlling or minority stakes in small and midsize businesses based in the Latin American nation. Return to Headlines "Poland's Enterprise Investors Sells Romanian Retailer Artima to French Carrefour for EUR55 Million" (Central and Eastern Europe and Russia) SeeNews (10/29/07) Polish private equity firm Enterprise Investors has sold its 100 percent stake in Romanian retailer Artima to retail group Carrefour of France for EUR55 million. Enterprise acquired the stake in 2004 for EUR17 million. Artima has since grown from 14 supermarkets to 21 supermarkets, with projected sales of EUR95 million in 2007, threefold 2004's total. Enterprise Investors focuses on investments in Poland and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, committing over EUR1.6 billion since 1990. Return to Headlines "Injazat Technology Fund Achieves 75 Percent Internal Rate of Return" (Middle East) Zawya.com (11/04/07) The US$50 million Injazat Technology Fund (ITF) has generated an internal rate of return of 75 percent through the sale of its 19 percent stake in IT service provider Atos Origin Middle East (AOME) to Hewlett Packard. The fund, managed by Injazat Capital of Dubai, is focused on the information and communication technology sectors of the MENA region. ITF's investment in AOME less than a year ago was part of the first-ever management buyout within MENA's technology sector. Return to Headlines "AfriCap Closes Record Deal" (Africa) AfricaNews.com (10/30/07) AfriCap, a private equity firm dedicated to Africa's microfinance sector, has announced the closing of a US$50 million fund. The company has invested in 12 microfinance institutions over the past six years, including Equity Bank Limited, the first microfinance bank in Africa to make an IPO. AfriCap plans to expand the scope of its investments to include microinsurance and money transfer companies. Return to Headlines "Equity International Eyes Libya, Raises US$500 Million Fund" (Middle East) Turkish Daily News Online (11/03/07) U.S. based private equity firm Equity International is raising a US$500 million global fund. The company says that Libya, due to its oil wealth and tourism potential, is high on its radar for investment opportunities, along with other countries in the MENA region. This focus was underlined by billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell's recent visit to Libya. Zell is affiliated with Equity International. Return to Headlines Abstract News © Copyright 2007 INFORMATION, INC. |
7 November 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  |