Fund plans to invest $90 mln in Poland
The venture capital fund, which officially opened its Warsaw office last Thursday, said it had already invested about 15% of its second regional fund closed last September, and that the entire fund should be fully invested within three years. Advent entered the region in 1994 with its first $60 million fund, of which approximately $30 million was invested in Poland. One of the new fund's first investments in Poland came in the media sector. Advent indirectly took 3.6% of private station Radio Zet. (See the WBJ, April 12-18, 1999). Together with its sole investment partner in Poland, Copernicus Capital Management, Advent assumed 40% of Kanoko, a company that controls 9% of the radio station.
Advent would not disclose how much it paid for the stake, but said an average investment for the fund in Poland was $5 million-$18 million.
In addition to Kanoko, the fund's other Central European investments include stakes in Hungary's Elender Computer, that country's second largest internet provider. It teamed up with another fund, Jupiter, to enter the Romanian beer industry through stakes in brewers Greivita and Haber.
Contributors to Advent's latest fund include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), investment and financial services company Pinnacle Planning Group, IBM Pension Fund, Federal Mogul Corp., ADIA, and Abu Dabi Investment Authority.
Joanna James, managing director for Central and Eastern Europe, said the fund's next placement would likely be in a Poland-based distribution company. That deal should be announced within a month, she said.
Through its two funds, Advent so far has invested in 13 regional companies. The fund has already cashed out of three of those stakes, and another two companies have gone public on the U.S. Nasdaq exchange. The two companies that are still in Advent's portfolio, despite their 1997 listing, are @Entertainment, which operates cable and digital television businesses in Poland, and Euronet Services.
Advent's typical approach here is to assume a minority stake in a company, hold it for three to five years, and then cash out by taking it public or selling to a larger investor.
Callinan said that while in Western Europe Advent typically expected to see an annual return of 21-22%, in Poland he expected to see about 35% annually.
Advent's other Polish holdings include snack food maker Star Foods and the Warsaw Distribution Center. It also used to have a stake in information service provider Internet Securities from which it cashed out at the beginning of the year when Euromoney acquired a majority stake.
Rafal Sosna will head Advent's Warsaw office. Sosna joined Advent's Central and Eastern Europe team last year, coming from Warsaw's UBS office where he had been in charge of the corporate finance department.
Advent would not disclose how much it paid for the stake, but said an average investment for the fund in Poland was $5 million-$18 million.
In addition to Kanoko, the fund's other Central European investments include stakes in Hungary's Elender Computer, that country's second largest internet provider. It teamed up with another fund, Jupiter, to enter the Romanian beer industry through stakes in brewers Greivita and Haber.
Contributors to Advent's latest fund include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), investment and financial services company Pinnacle Planning Group, IBM Pension Fund, Federal Mogul Corp., ADIA, and Abu Dabi Investment Authority.
Joanna James, managing director for Central and Eastern Europe, said the fund's next placement would likely be in a Poland-based distribution company. That deal should be announced within a month, she said.
Through its two funds, Advent so far has invested in 13 regional companies. The fund has already cashed out of three of those stakes, and another two companies have gone public on the U.S. Nasdaq exchange. The two companies that are still in Advent's portfolio, despite their 1997 listing, are @Entertainment, which operates cable and digital television businesses in Poland, and Euronet Services.
Advent's typical approach here is to assume a minority stake in a company, hold it for three to five years, and then cash out by taking it public or selling to a larger investor.
Callinan said that while in Western Europe Advent typically expected to see an annual return of 21-22%, in Poland he expected to see about 35% annually.
Advent's other Polish holdings include snack food maker Star Foods and the Warsaw Distribution Center. It also used to have a stake in information service provider Internet Securities from which it cashed out at the beginning of the year when Euromoney acquired a majority stake.
Rafal Sosna will head Advent's Warsaw office. Sosna joined Advent's Central and Eastern Europe team last year, coming from Warsaw's UBS office where he had been in charge of the corporate finance department.
