Invest-IQ

The EBRD is considering an €80 million financing package for Romanian agricultural processor Expur S.A. The project passed concept review and now awaits further Board action. Expur S.A. (www.alimenta.ru) Expur S.A. is an agricultural processing company specializing in sunflower, rapeseed, and soybean products, for both Romanian markets and export. Expur makes oils for human consumption, meal for [...]

The EBRD and Romania’s Alro have reached a deal to provide funding that will restructure Alro’s debt and increase cash flow. The USD 180 million deal is structured under the EBRD’s A/B loan program, meaning the bank will syndicate USD 105 million of the loan among commercial banks while holding the other USD 75 million itself. The [...]

Invitel Holdings, the Hungarian telecom majority-owned by Mid Europa Partners, is reportedly in the early stages of negotiations that could possibly result in the sale of its entire international wholesale business to Türk Telekom. Mid Europa first invested in Invitel in 2009, acquiring just over 64%. The firm increased its holding to 91.8% through two [...]

Spanish private equity firm GED continues its aggressive push to lead the Romanian travel industry with the recent acquisition of Travel House. GED acquired 80% of the company just weeks after making a deal for Pravion.ro, an online airline ticket sales portal. GED already owns corporate travel agency Happy Tour, which it acquired in late 2007, and [...]

Balkan investment management company Axxess Capital has announced a recent investment in Noriel Group, a leading producer of popular games and toys in Romania. The €7 million equity investment was made on behalf of the Balkan Accession Fund (BAF) which is managed by Axxess. The deal gives BAF a 40% stake in Noriel through the purchase of [...]

Romanian human resource firm Smartree Romania has a new investor by way of Poland’s Enterprise Investors (EI). The Enterprise Venture Fund I (EVFI) will acquire a 56% interest in Smartree in exchange for capital financing of €3 million. Smartree plans to use the funding to further expand its software outsourcing and payroll management services while also introducing a [...]

Siveco Romania, the IT software developer currently majority-owned by Siveco Netherlanden BV (42.2%), may be in sale talks with Hungarian telecom company Magyar Telekom. Romania is one of the more desirable CEE markets for IT outsourcing due to its low cost and highly skilled workforce. A company like Siveco would enable Magyar Telekom to expand [...]

In a move that brings an end to a three-year investment, 3TS Capital Partners/3i has agreed to sell its majority stake in Romanian medical services company Centrul Medical Unirea (CMU) to Advent International. Joining the sale are CMU’s founders who own a minority stake. Centrul Medical Unirea (www.cmu.ro) CMU is a Romanian medical services company established in 1995 [...]

Global private equity firm Lime Rock Partners has reached an agreement with Expert Petroleum, a Romanian oil and gas company which is part of Jordan’s NT&S Energy group, to invest USD 25 million in Expert’s operations. Expert Petroleum will use the investment capital to fund the appraisal and drilling operations of its current licenses, including [...]

Profi Rom Food Group, a leading Romanian grocery chain, is preparing for new ownership following a takeover announcement by Enterprise Investors (EI). Enterprise has reached a formal agreement to acquire 100% of Profi Rom from Duna Waiting Participation, for a price of €66 million. The acquisition will be made through EI’s Polish Enterprise Fund VI and [...]

Citing the growing Internet market in Romania, 3TS Capital Partners has announced an investment in Romanian online publisher InternetCorp. The deal, which gives 3TS a minority stake for an undisclosed amount, is to be transacted via the 3TS Cisco Growth Fund, a 3TS fund dedicated to communications, media, and technology opportunities. With a strong track record [...]

Czech power giant CEZ has completed months of negotiations with Romania’s Electrica SA by reaching an agreement to acquire full ownership of CEZ Distributie and CEZ Vanzare. The two Romanian energy providers have been part of CEZ group since a 2005 privatization deal in which the group acquired 51% of each company. CEZ paid more than [...]

Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) continues to make good on its divestiture plans by announcing it has signed an agreement to sell its Central European operations to CVC Capital Partners. CVC will purchase the assets for roughly $2.2 billion with a commitment to make a future $800 million payment if it recovers the initial investment. Anheuser-Busch InBev CEE [...]

Eurohold Bulgaria recently sold the Avto Union Centre in the capital city of Sofia to satisfy debt owed to Piraeus Bank, and with that deal done the Bulgarian holding company is not sitting back counting the profits. Instead, they are pursuing at least two automotive industry opportunities in Romania and Macedonia. Both opportunities were discussed [...]

With the current high demand for efficient energy in Romania, European private equity firm GED has made a substantial investment in Romania’s Total Eurobusiness (TEB). GED total investment in TEB is roughly €12 million. The investment gives GED a 60% stake in Romania’s top energy cogeneration company. Total Eurobusiness (www.teb.com.ro) Located in Bucharest, Total Eurobusiness is an [...]

The potential sale of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Central and Eastern European brewing assets is heating up after five private equity firms expressed interest in looking at a possible deal. Although none of the private equity firms has made comments publicly, the group of five includes Cinven, CVC Capital Partners, KKR Private Equity, TPG Capital, and Warburg [...]

The majority shareholder of Romanian insurance firm ARDF is poised to delist it from the RASDAQ market after acquiring what remains of the company’s shares. Generali PPF plans a public offer for mandatory takeover of ARDF, at a cost of up to RON 21.58 million. The outstanding shares amount to 18% of the total, or 196,206,286 shares. [...]

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering an investment in a new private equity fund designed for the Balkans. Although still in the concept stage, the new fund’s size could be as much as EUR 200 million with the EBRD’s investment upwards of EUR 40 million. The proposed name of the fund [...]

European private equity investor GED Capital Development has announced plans to invest up to EUR 70 million in Romania and Bulgaria during the next two years. The announcement marks the second such project, following the successful EUR 150 million investments from the GED Eastern Fund II in 2006. GED Private Equity (www.gedprivateequity.com) / GED Capital [...]

Beer producer Heineken Romania has reached a formal agreement with Romanian businessman Ioan Bălan for the sale of its mineral water division. The water division was acquired with the acquisition of Bere Mures last year but isn’t a good fit with Heineken’s core business strategy of beer production. Mr. Bălan, former owner and manager of [...]