Baring Vostok Captial on the Verge of Deal With Riki Group

Baring Vostok Capital Partners, the Moscow-based private equity firm, could be on the verge of a major investment in one of Russia’s leading children’s entertainment ventures. BVCP and Riki Group, producers of the popular Smeshariki cartoon television series, seem to be in the final stages of working a deal that would give BVCP a stake in Riki of 45%-47%.

After valuing Riki at USD 90 million, BVCP will invest a total of USD 50-60 million including a USD 10-15 million loan to be used for for debt service.

Riki Group (www.smeshariki.ru)
The Riki Group is a Russian holding company consisting of nine individual companies all tied to children’s entertainment, specifically the Smeshariki television program. Riki produces the cartoon program, which currently has 260 episodes, along with books and magazines, computer games, and digital media. The group licenses its characters to dozens of product manufacturers with over 3,000 products, and operates twelve retail outlets under the Smeshariki brand name. Riki Group is based in St. Petersburg and employs in excess of 400 people.

Baring Vostok Capital Partners (www.bpep.com)
Baring Vostok Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm active primarily in Russia and the CIS. Since 1994 Baring’s five funds have placed investments worth more than USD 950 million in 55 companies. The firm’s investment strategy involves focusing on the consumer products, financial services, media, oil & gas, and telecom sectors.

Baring Vostok has a number of leading institutional investors from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. These include pension funds, governmental investments, endowments and international institutions.