Nekton Global acquires
50 percent of Rise Capital AB
Tuesday, 16th June 2015, London:
Nekton Global, an energy merchant business chaired by international entrepreneur and the financier behind Skype, Gerard Lopez, has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Rise Capital AB (“Rise Capital”), a specialist private equity business focused on pursing infrastructure investments in Russia.
The infrastructure construction industry has experienced rapid early stage growth driven by substantial government backing creating extensive opportunities for international investor participation. Founded in 2013, Rise Capital has built up an extensive track record and expertise in the sector, working alongside some of Russia’s leading construction and engineering groups, as well as financial and banking institutions.
The partnership between Nekton Global and Rise Capital will bring together complementary skillsets to facilitate the successful deployment of capital in Russian infrastructure. Rise Capital’s primary investment focus is on infrastructure, including public-private partnership arrangements (PPP), across a range of sectors and industries, including energy, transport and social infrastructure. With a strong background in energy investing, Nekton Global will utilise its extensive experience, network and financing capabilities to help source additional financing for projects, with a particular focus on wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors in Asia and the Middle East.
Rise Capital will be positioned to further consolidate its position as a leading investor in Russian infrastructure with an extensive existing portfolio and a substantial future pipeline consisting of 45 potential projects. Investment ticket sizes in these projects will range from US$500m to US$2bn, utilising a combination of equity and debt financing arrangements, with Rise Capital seeking to increase its investment capacity over the next five years to approximately US$12bn.
As part of the transaction, Gerard Lopez, Chairman and Chief Executive of Nekton, will become Chairman of the Board at Rise Capital.
Chairman of the Board of Rise Capital, Gerard Lopez, said:
“We see tremendous opportunities in infrastructure investing in Russia and see great growth potential in the country, which can be leveraged using the right mix of management expertise, experience and capital deployment. We are pleased to have the opportunity merge the experience and capabilities of Nekton and Rise Capital in order to secure new sources of debt and equity capital while ensuring world-class asset construction and development in Russian infrastructure projects for the key strategic industries.”
Rise Capital Chairman, Sergey Romashov, comments:
“Nekton is a credible and strong partner for Rise Capital. I am confident that our new partnership will help us both to realize our ambitions and plans here in Russia”.
For further information, please contact:
Alex Nekrassov / Shaya Raymond
+44 (0) 207 930 8033
alexnekrassov@newcenturymedia.co.uk
shayaraymond@newcenturymedia.co.uk
Notes to editors
Gerard Lopez is an entrepreneur, businessman and technologist based in Luxembourg. He is the chairman and CEO of Nekton Global and a founding partner and a key shareholder of Mangrove Capital having funded some of the world’s most successful tech companies including Skype, Wix, or Nimbuzz. He is also the founder of Genii Capital – active in real estate, automotive and financial investments. He sits on the board of Mangrove, Genii Group, Nekton, Ecotive, CiteeCar and other group companies. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Miami University Business School and founded the Act Mangrove Charity foundation promoting education for under developed countries. Gerard also sits on the board of the Royal Theatre of Madrid, one of Europe’s most renowned theatres. He speaks English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Luxembourgish.
Nekton Global is a privately-owned energy merchant company with global presence, headquartered in Dubai with offices in Latin America, CIS, Africa and Middle East. Nekton provides comprehensive financial solutions through full investment cycle starting from financial advisory to principal investments and investment management. Nekton also maintains strong level relationships with numerous sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors throughout the world and particularly within Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Rise Capital is an international, private equity fund, whose primary investment focus is on infrastructure, including public-private partnership arrangements (PPP), across a range of sectors and industries, including energy, transport and social infrastructure.