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 [...]

Wine in Black  an online seller of premium quality wines has raised several million Euros in a financing round led by Bright Capital of Russia. Existing investors e.ventures (DE), Passion Capital (UK) and Project A (DE) also contributed significantly to the funding.  The raised sum will help Wine in Black to enter the international market, build a [...]

Scitech Holding, a leading player in the international market for sports nutrition, has taken on board Enterprise Investors and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners as significant minority stakeholders in a recent transaction. The acquisition of equity will enable the target company to continue its successful growth path of the past two decades. The Morgan Stanley [...]

Turkish pastry chain Simit Sarayi is in talks to sell a minority stake in the group, with Abraaj Capital (Dubai) and Colony Capital (United States). The company is hoping to raise USD 500 mln to take its brand global; it currently operates snack and tea outlets in Turkey, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Simit Sarayi [...]

Horizon Equity has purchased ZWC “Miś”, a confectionery subsidiary of Delicpol, itself a veteran of the confectionery industry for over 50 years. The parent company is under the management of Resource Partners, considered to be one of the prominent investor groups in the region. The 100 per-cent equity sale will enable Delicpol to re-focus on [...]

IdeaPool, a Hungarian firm specialized in intelligent packaging and shelf-life indicator solutions has received a capital infusion worth of USD 203k (HUF 46mln ) from Colabs StartUp Accelerator. The company’s patent-pending flagship product is – still in development phase –  a method that is able to alert the consumers when their milk is expired, more precisely [...]

East Capital has made a successful exit from ELKO Grupa (ELKO), a Latvian IT distribution company in Eastern Europe and one of the largest of its kind in Latvia. An overwhelming 90 per cent of ELKO’s business comes from the markets in Russia and Ukraine. The 8.8 per cent equity stake was sold to the [...]

The world’s largest – and certainly most controversial – retail group, Wal-Mart, has been in extended communication with Turkish supermarket chain Migros Ticaret‘s majority stakeholder BC Partners to purchase its 80 per cent stake in the group. An initial non-binding offer could be made as early as the first quarter of 2013 to enable Wal-Mart [...]

As 2012 comes to a close, the EBRD has effected what will be the largest syndicated deal this year in South East Asia via a financial package for existing client Atlantic Grupa, worth EUR 307 mln. The package is critical for the region, which is still undergoing the backlash effects of the economic crisis; the agreement [...]

In a move that further strengthens the EBRD‘s Turkish interests, the bank has extended its funding to local leader in the pet food industry, Tropikal. The two-tranche loan will total EUR 4 mln and will fuel the company’s growth and working capital. Tropikal began its business with international brands, as a distributor; in 2003 it [...]

Russia’s leading VC firm focused on internet businesses – AddVenture – has recently closed financing rounds in two diverse portfolio companies. Its first investment is with Delivery Club – a local online food ordering service already in AddVenture’s portfolio. This round of financing saw the firm injecting USD 4 mln in capital. The funds will [...]

Polish pizza ordering service Skubacz.pl has received financial backing from domestic VC group Xevin Investments, which is CEE-focused. The online service already works with more than 800 Polish Pizzerias, many of them approaching the service for a sign up themselves, which additionally saves operational costs for Skubacz. Xevin joins several other investors who came on [...]

Delivery Hero, a multinational internet company that offers customers to order home-delivered meals from a choice spread of restaurants and eateries showcased by location and proximity, has bagged yet another round of financing – this time, by Kite Ventures and Kreos Capital. The USD 49 mln injection has doubled the Oct 2010-founded company’s funding-to-date figures, [...]

The EBRD will lend USD 55 mln to Polish food and beverage can maker Can-Pack to upgrade its Russian subsidiary to a more efficient manufacturing plant. The strategic investment will help Can-Pack compete more aggressively in the Russian market. The subsidiary - Ken-Pak Zavod Upakovki (CPZU) – already has a relationship with EBRD since 2008, when [...]

Yemeksepeti.com, Turkey’s top food ordering portal, gained new partners in investors General Atlantic (GA) and others along in the form of a USD 44 mln investment in the company. GA has been active in Europe for the last two decades, and this will be their first investment in Turkey. The investment gave GA a minority [...]

Sweden-based asset management firm East Capital Explorer has sold its stake in one of Georgia’s largest private food retail chain – Populi – to Ioli Supermarkets.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has divested its minority stake in Macedonian winery Tikves

Molson Coors, one of the world’s top 5 brewers by volume, has closed its acquisition of StarBev, of which Bulgarian brewery Kamenitza is a part. Mark Hunter, CEO of Coors’ UK and Ireland business will take on the new business unit, which boasts an employee count of 4,100, under his wing; the new unit will [...]

Speaking of Russia, year 2012 seems to be the “Year of Health” at EBRD. Two of their investments targeted the area of healthcare, which is taken here in its broadest sense: as meaning medical services and products but also as a preventive, healthy lifestyle  initiative.   Earlier this year, in a transborder transaction, the EBRD [...]

The joint investor duo of PE investors Resource Partners and AXA Private Equity have completed the acquisition of Polish confectionery company Delic-Pol. The investment follows the setting up of a CEE-focused strategic alliance between the two investors in May 2010. Debt for the purchase was provided by the Structure Finance Bureau of the Corporate Banking [...]