Sber in cooperation with a leading Middle East sovereign wealth fund announces its commitment as a cornerstone investor into an investment fund managed by VPE Capital focused on making private equity investments into Russia. The agreed partnership combines the strengths of all parties to create a market-leading Russia-focused private equity platform in the region. On behalf of Sber, SberInvest will act as a party to the fund.
The fund intends to make sector-agnostic equity and equity-linked investments into businesses operating predominantly in Russia with specific focus on growth capital opportunities.
Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank:
“I am happy that our joint fund will help medium-sized enterprises across Russia get access to equity capital and achieve their ambitious goals. Following Sber’s initial commitment of $100 million, the fund’s current AUM stands in excess of $200 million. With the intention of reaching $500 million AUM, our fund will be open to accept additional commitments from third party investors. I am sure that the unparalleled asset and client base of Sber combined with the deep investment expertise and the asset management experience of our partners will bring new impulse to the Russian private equity market.”
Roman Kudryashov, Partner of VPE Capital:
“The private equity space in Russia offers a unique opportunity to put capital to work into dynamic businesses with strong management which, particularly in the current challenging economic environment, require growth capital to meet their investment plans. VPE Capital has a 10-year history of working with global institutions to invest into Russia, and we are delighted to be able to work with one of the very strongest financial institutions active in Russia today. We believe we have a tremendous platform to invest equity capital to grow businesses on behalf of our investors and develop the private equity business in Russia.”
SberInvest (Sberbank Investments LLC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of PJSC Sberbank and part of its Corporate and Investment Unit. Its core operations include financial solutions and structuring through equity and mezzanine instruments, which it offers to the bank’s customers.
