Polish Enterprise Fund V could sell Artima and Siveco

EI was already considering exiting the Siveco software solution provider, where EI owned a 32 percent share package together with U.S.-based financial investment company Intel Capital.

Consultants. The Polish fund hired the PricewaterhouseCoopers consultancy company "to test the interest of potential strategic buyers" in the Artima chain, according to the head of EI's Romanian division, Cristian Nacu. He confirmed that investment bank Lazard is doing the same thing for Siveco.

"We had already received several uncalled-for offers, some of them interesting, and we might sell, if we find an attractive offer," Nacu told Business Standard. 

He estimates that the value of EI-controlled businesses in Romania increased enough to register in the 2.5 times average by which the investments of the EI-administered funds rose.

DEALS. PEF V paid €7 million for a 22.5 percent equity interest in Siveco, in a transaction where Intel Capital, the investment division of Intel Corporation, acquired an additional 10 percent share package. The fund acquired Artima for €17 million, taking over €4 million in debts.

Business Standard recently wrote that Artima posted €19 million worth of net sales in the first quarter of 2007, up by 16 percent year-on-year. The company had €78.2 million in net sales in 2006, a 40 percent annual increase, and a profit of €1.4 million, 37 percent lower than the 2005 level.

Investment. So far, PEF V investments in Romania total €80 million, and its only exit was from the Mobil Rom-Orange business, with a €78 million profit, 3.9 times the initial investment.

EI is currently negotiating with three other companies for possible takeovers. Each of them posted over €25 million in sales in 2006. Major funds, including Advent, AIG, Oresa Venture, GED Capital, and RAEF, have invested some €400 million in Romania in the past few years.