East-West Digital News 9 October 2012
Baring Vostok Capital Partners announced last week that it has put together a new $1.5 billion private equity fund – Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund V, or BVPEF V – which now stands as the largest in Russia’s private equity business.
The new fund is generally expected to follow in the strategic footsteps of its four predecessors, prioritizing investments for well-established leaders in four areas: IT, including Internet, software development, media and telecommunications; financial services; FMCG and consumer services; and natural resources.
According to Michael Calvey, founder and senior partner at Baring Vostok Capital Partners (BVCP), the new fund will develop a portfolio of 10-15 assets maximum; its focus will be on midcaps with potential for explosive growth, supporting business expansion or consolidation (or a corporate takeover).
The BVPEF V fund was raised from a group of over 40 global institutional investors with a track record of prior Baring Vostok investments (primarily pension and university funds). These veteran investors from Europe, the U.S., the Middle East and Asia were joined by a group of ten new ones. Russia continues to be a priority area, Calvey said, while adding that the funds also had vested interests in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other former constituent countries of the USSR.
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