Baring Vostok closes biggest ever Russia fund

Baring Vostok Capital Partners, a Russian buyout firm, has closed a $1 billion buyout fund – the biggest ever raised for investments in the region.

The fund, the firm’s fourth, is more than double the size of the previous fund and was raised in just four months. Andrey Costyashkin, partner at Baring Vostok, said it was the quickest fundraising the firm had ever had.

Costyashkin said the firm was aiming for bigger deals: “The size of the fourth fund reflects the fact that our operations have become larger scale. We previously invested about $10 million in each deal – in this fund, we are going to invest about $40 million in each deal.”

The fund, which has been backed by investors from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, will make investments in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet countries. Its focus will be on the financial services, consumer, media, telecoms and energy sectors.

Baring Vostok, a division of Baring Private Equity International, has invested more than $600 million in nearly 50 companies since its inception in 1994. The firm raised its first private equity fund, with $160 million of committed capital, in 1994. The second closed in 2001 on $205 million, and the third in 2005 on $413 million.