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 [...]

Swedish VC firm East Capital has purchased a Lithuanian shopping mall in Vilnius from Ektornet, a subsidiary of the Swedbank Group. The mall, called Gedimino 9, will benefit from the funding by getting improvements to its commercial aspects as well as a re-shaping and brand positioning in the near future. The deal was completed through [...]

Stockholm-based Eastern Europe-centric East Capital has just taken advantage of the Baltic boom in real estate to set up a second property fund. Using the fund, they have invested in a logistics center in Tallinn, Estonia, for approximately EUR 24 mln, or USD 31.7 mln. The new purchase, located in the Tanassilma industrial area, spans [...]

One of the seaside hotels in the Estonian tourism sector has gotten a reprieve as a Stockholm’s East Capital has acquired the property from bankruptcy proceedings. East Capital has acquired Laulasmaa Spa Hotel, a resort and spa on Estonia’s northern coast. The hotel had been suffering severe financial issues due to a decrease in tourism. [...]

Baltic pharmaceutical company JSC Grindeks (Grindex) has announced the receipt of a notification from Stockholm-based East Capital indicating that the private equity investor has increased its shares in the company. Prior to the transaction East Capital owned slightly more than 955,000 shares. After the transaction that number was raised to more than 975,000 shares. The increase gives [...]

East Capital Explorer AB hopes to take advantage of a recovering Georgian economy after announcing intentions to invest in the country’s largest grocery chain, Populi. East Capital will invest €3.7 million through a bridge loan to be converted into a combination of share options and shares. The agreement includes an option for East Capital to [...]

A little more than a year after launching its highly successful Special Opportunities Fund, East Capital has announced the new Special Opportunities Fund II targeted at opportunities to acquire companies with positive potential but lower market valuations. East Capital intends to take an active role in portfolio companies where appropriate, through a presence on the [...]

Russia’s Probusinessbank has agreed to a full takeover of Investment City Bank, a local banker in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. Probusinessbank began the process with an initial purchase of 20% in December 2009, committing to complete the acquisition of the remaining 80% by mid-2010. The first-stage purchase was made through Financial Group Life, a Probusinessbank holding, [...]

Citing the poor performance of the East Capital Bering Funds, East Capital Explorer AB announced in late September a plan to make additional investments in the two funds. The Bering Russia Fund received €20 million while the Bering Balkan Fund received €10 million. With the investments complete East Capital Explorer reports €42.1 million available for [...]

In an attempt to fight off a buyout bid from TeliaSonera, Sweden’s East Capital Asset Management has increased its stake in Lithuanian telecom company TEO LT to 5.54%, at a cost of roughly EUR 8.5 million. TeliaSonera offered a buyout bid of LTL 1.83 per share for the 34.5% held by others investors, but was [...]

Government owned Khanty-Mansiysk Bank has scheduled a special general stockholder’s meeting on July 27 to consider the bank’s plan for a new stock issue of up to RUB 3.5 billion. A successful issue would increase the share capital of the region’s largest bank to RUB 10.5 billion. The increase will enable Khanty-Mansiysk to receive a [...]

The launch of a new USD 100 million fund aimed at investments in Russia and Eastern Europe has been announced by East Capital. The Stockholm based investment firm as named the new fund the East Capital Special Opportunities Fund, emphasizing the goal of acquiring new investments that have low valuations due to owner related reasons [...]

East Capital has divested itself from Severnaya Kazna. After purchasing a 10 percent stake in the bank beginning last year, the investment fund has chosen to withdraw its interest. Alfa-Bank purchased a 75 percent stake in the company in early December after Severnaya Kazna suffered liquidity problems due to massive withdrawals of deposits. Alfa-Bank is [...]

In an agreement with Probusinessbank, the East Capital Financials Fund will increase its stake in the company from 10.25 percent to 19.93 percent. The first step will be a direct share subscription of EUR 10.8 million, followed by a convertible subordinated debt of EUR 19.5 million. This conversion into common shares will occur within three [...]

East Capital Explorer Financial Institutions Fund acquired 19.99% of the bank’s share capital. The transaction volume is approximately € 15.5 million. The transaction is pending approval from the Central Bank of Russia. FIA Bank (www.fiabank.ru) FIA-Bank, based in Togliatti, is a growing market leader in retail banking in the Samara region with assets of around [...]

East Capital Financials Fund, the banking fund of Stockholm-based East Capital, acquired 16.43% of Kamchatprombank, a Russian bank, at the cost of €2.85 million. The investment is expected to drive the bank’s regional expansion and consolidations plans as well as attract further investment appeal. Kamchatprombank (www.kambank.ru) Headquartered in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatprombank focuses on [...]

East Capital Financials Fund acquires 33.33% of Russian debt collection agency Morgan & Stout for € 1.02 million. Morgan & Stout LLC (www.morganstout.com) The debt collection agency Morgan & Stout was established in 2007 by a group of businessmen with substantial work experience of debt management in European financial markets. Morgan & Stout is headquartered [...]

East Capital acquired Arco Vara’s 50% holding in AVEC Asset Management AS becoming the sole owner of AVEC Asset Management AS, managing real estate fund AVEC Baltic Property Fund and Arco Baltic Real Estate Portfolio. AVEC Asset Management AS AVEC Asset Management AS is a joint venture between Arco Vara and East Capital with regional [...]

Investment bank Dragon Capital and East Capital Bering Ukraine Fund jointly acquired a 70% stake from Chumak’s co-founder, Professor Hans Rausing. Chumak is the largest tomato processing company in Central and Eastern Europe and one of Ukraine’s top brands. Chumak (www.chumak.com) Chumak is one of Ukraine’s most famous food companies, known for its expertise in [...]

The East Capital Explorer Financial Institutions Fund acquires 10% of Russian Bank Severnaya Kazna. The transaction volume is approximately € 28 million. The transaction is pending approval from the Central Bank of Russia. Bank Severnaya Kazna (www.kazna.ru) Bank Severnaya Kazna, based in Ekaterinburg, is the market leader in retail banking in the Ural region. The [...]