The EBRD allocates to Horizon Capital Growth Fund IV the first tranche of up to $40 million to support development of SMEs in Moldova and Ukraine.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has committed up to $40 million (40 million euros) to Horizon Capital Growth Fund IV (HCGF IV) managed by Horizon Capital, a leading private equity firm in Ukraine and Moldova and a long-time EBRD client, the bank said in a statement. The bank may increase its investment in this fund to $50 million in the future. HCGF IV aims to raise up to $250 million to invest in technology and export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine and Moldova in the form of development capital. The planned average investment is $10-30 million. The agreement, signed at the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) London office, is said to be in line with the EBRD's commitment to invest more than 1 billion euros in Ukraine this year. "We welcome the creation of the new Horizon Capital fund, which will play an important catalyst role in the Ukrainian and regional market," EBRD Managing Director for Private Equity Hassan El Khatib said at the signing ceremony. "This fund will contribute not only to the greater resilience of private capital markets in the region by developing private equity as an alternative source of financing, but also to greater inclusiveness by supporting companies negatively impacted by war. The new private equity fund will increase the amount of financing available, which means the EBRD and other international partners are effectively addressing the financing gap caused by unfavorable market conditions," said Hassan El Khatib. Besides EBRD the initial investors of the new fund are IFC, DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft), Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets, Western NIS Enterprise Fund and Zero Gap Fund, the joint investment project of The Rockefeller Foundation and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. // 27.09.2022 - InfoMarket.
