Riverside Central Europe Fund gathers strength for a wave of investments

Riverside, an American investment fund, which has been active on the Polish, Czech and Hungarian markets since 1997, is planning to invest euro 125 million in Central Europe. Riverside is currently accumulating funds for their second project. " The second fund will have up to euro 170 million, which we want to invest in this part of Europe," said Antonia Cabral, the managing partner for Riverside Central Europe Fund. Riverside is a buyout fund - it targets developed enterprises and usually seeks to secure a majority stake in them. According to Piotr Misztal, Riverside's partner responsible for Polish operations, this approach allows the fund to take over niche companies and offers them a change for further development, as well as providing shareholders with decent returns. The average annual return on Riverside's investments between 1989 and 2000 was 57%. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) M.T.K.