Investors

CapMan, Russian fund team up on $100m deal

The co-investment in Maykor, a Russian IT business, comes a few months after the Nordic firm held a first close on its latest vehicle.

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CapMan has joined forces with the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to invest in Maykor, the largest IT outsourcing company in Russia, according to a CapMan statement. 

Maykor is expected to receive up to $100 million in fresh equity in several stages. RDIF, Russia’s $10 billion investment vehicle backed by the Russian government, will provide $50 million, while CapMan and the EBRD will contribute the remaining part.

Headquartered in Moscow, Maykor has a network of 83 branches and 400 local divisions that covers the bulk of Russia. With around 3,000 staff engineers, it bills itself as Russia’s largest IT services provider, focusing on the country’s large and medium-sized businesses. The group posted sales of RUB8 billion (€182 million, $243 million) last year.

The investment is intended to help Maykor scale up its operations as well as expand internationally. Russia’s IT market, worth more than $24 billion in 2012, is expected to grow by 15 percent in the coming years, according to the statement. 

It is the first company backed by CapMan Russia’s latest fund, which held a first close on €97 million last April. The EBRD was among the early backers of the vehicle, having committed €20 million to CapMan Russia II in April 2012. The development bank could increase its contribution to €50 million should the size of the fund, which is targeting €175 million, significantly increase.

Maykor is also the third Russian business in which EBRD and RDIF are co-investors.  Previous companies backed by both institutions have included the Moscow Stock Exchange, in which the bank acquired a 6.29 percent stake in January 2012, and OGK-5, a power generation business. RDIF, which initially purchased 1.25 percent of the exchange, has since upped its stake to 2.7 percent.

CapMan is still raising a separate buyout vehicle, Fund X, which doesn’t have a target. In June, Fund X held a second close on €206 million. Its predecessor, Fund IX, closed on €295 million in 2009.