Ukrainian Redevelopment Fund LP of the leading U.S. investor philanthropist George Soros is going to invest in a significant stake in the charter capital of IT-outsourcing company Ciklum (Kyiv).
"The fund will acquire the minority stake (about 10%-25%) which belongs to another Private Equity fund Horizon Capital operating in Ukraine, as well as an undeclared part of shares held by Majgaard Holdings Ltd and belongs to Torben Majgaard (Founder and CEO at Ciklum). The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2015," the Ciklum press service reported.
George Soros said: “I am very excited about my investment in Ciklum. It is a very dynamic company in an industry that represents the future of Ukraine,” Soros said in the statement. It’s an investment in what I call the ‘New Ukraine’ – Ukrainians who are young, well educated, and eager for their country to break from the past and to build an open society. I hope that my investment serves as an example to other investors“.
The company has not disclosed the commercial details of the deal.
Referring to confidentiality, that the full composition of shareholders and their shares have not also been announced.
Ciklum (www.ciklum.com) is a leading global software engineering and solutions company. Ciklum delivers software engineering excellence to Fortune 500 and fast-growing organizations across various industries. The company’s 2,500+ developers are located in the delivery centers around the world, providing a range of services including extended software development teams, quality assurance, research & development, product development and engineering consulting. The company was founded in 2002 by Danish citizen Torben Majgaard (also CEO of the company) in Kyiv. Ciklum employs 2,500+ IT specialists and have six development offices in Ukraine, one in Belarus, and two in Pakistan, as well as representative offices in Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Israel. Ukrainian Ciklum's development centers are located in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia and Odesa.
Ukrainian Redevelopment Fund is a private investment vehicle that focuses on special situations and private equity investments in Ukraine and companies with significant operations in Ukraine. As part of its investment process, the Fund endeavors to make targeted investments that have the potential to promote economic and social development in Ukraine. The principal investment adviser to URF is Soros Fund Management LLC, a private investment advisor to a number of private investment funds that are managed exclusively for Soros family clients.
Horizon Capital (www.horizoncapital.com.ua) is a private equity fund manager that originates and manages investments in mid-cap companies with outstanding growth and profit potential in Ukraine and the region. Currently, Horizon Capital manages three funds, Emerging Europe Growth Fund II (EEGF II), Emerging Europe Growth Fund (EEGF) and Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), with over $600 million under management.
