Private Equity Russia

Alexander Samonov,  former co-owner of the supermarket chain “Kopeika” has announced that he is seeking investment and strategic partners for the creation of an investment fund for the construction of data centers in Russia.

Samonov has informed Kommersant that he will be investing $15 million personally and hopes to reach a total investments into the fund of $100 million.  They aim to secure an additional $100 million of debt financing.

They estimate they will be building around 6 data centers at planned financing levels.

The president of Natalie Tours, Vladimir Vorobjev, has announced that his company has purchased 25% of the shares of OOO Tourix Holidays.

Natalie Tours is one of Russia’s largest providers of package tours to popular international vacation destinations.  Tourix is a Western-style travel reservation portal in the model of Expedia or Orbitz.  It offers package tours, but also offers separate flight reservations, hotel, car rental and insurance.

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Telecommunications holding company ER-Telecom is actively considering a private placement of shares in order to provide capital for its regional expansion efforts.  Analysts estimate the firm’s value at $460 million (at ten times earnings).

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Tvigle.ru, the Russian online video content distribution, licensing and advertising company, is offering between 10% and 25% of the company to strategic private equity investors.  The owners are seeking a valuation of  owners are seeking is $45 million.

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Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko met with a team from the Rothschild Group last week and has invited the group to provide valuation services for enterprises slated for privatization in the republic and to advise the government on their privatization program.

The team also met with senior members of the government and the leadership of the national bank.

“If agreed in principle, we could identify five to seven projects in the near future and develop them more seriously,” said Lukashenko.

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Russian agricultural leaders will be participating in one of Europe’s largest agricultural conferences, – Salon International de L’Agriculture (SIA) 2010, from February 27 to March 7 in Paris, where they will present specific direct investment and joint venture opportunities in Russia’s agricultural sector.

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According to Reuters, Ebay CEO John Donahoe said today that Ebay is open to private equity acquisitions and joint ventures in the Russian e-commerce space.

This comes after an announcement that the company would start a Russian-language version of its site and a local online platform in Russia by the end of March to facilitate cross-border transactions.

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Kommersant reported today that private equity groups Mangrove Capital Partners and ABRT Venture Fund are currently negotiating with LexisNexis and Proquest regarding the sale of Russian visual search provider Quintura.

Mangrove and ABRT have reportedly invested about $10 million into Quintura.  The funds are reportedly looking for a $50 million valuation for the company based primarily on its proprietary search technology and patents.  Annual revenues of Quintura are reportedly currently less than $500,000.

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Sberbank Capital is looking to hire 30 bankers as part of its plan to develop a fully fledged private equity group and investment banking unit.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank Capital was created in 2008 to hold selected distressed assets of creditors seized by the state-owned savings giant.  The division now conrols a $4 billion distressed asset portfolio, primarily in the metallurgical and energy industries and real estate.  Another $3 billion in projects are currently in the pipeline and being discussed with Sberbank.

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The Coca-Cola Company is rumored to be evaluating purchase of a controlling interest in Nidan Juices, Russia’s fourth largest juice producer, from London-based private equity group Lion Capital.

Lion Capital bought a 75% stake in Russia’s fourth-largest juice maker in 2007 with financing from Goldman Sachs at a valuation that put the company’s value at $530 million.  The group has been shopping for a buyer for the firm since November 2009.

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Kommersant reported today that Ukraine’s Nemiroff vodka company is actively looking to sell a majority stake to a strategic private equity investor.

Nemiroff is the third largest vodka producer in the world by sales and is estimated to be worth approximately $300 million.

According to an offering memorandum prepared by ING Bank in Kiev, the company is willing to discuss sale of “up to 100%” of equity.  Kommersant quoted sources close to the deal as saying that the impetus to sell is coming from two of the three main shareholders – Yakov Gribov and Anatoly Kipish.

The third partner, founder and chairman Stepan Glus, with a 30% equity stake in Nemiroff, said the company is not slated for sale for the time being but is prepared to consider attracting an investor for development at a global level.

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