Abris Capital Partners

Private Equity for CEE Mid-Market Businesses 

 

Abris Capital Partners is a leading independent private equity fund manager, focused on mid-market opportunities in the major countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

The principal role of Abris is to identify, and partner with, the most successful and dynamic businesses in Central and Eastern Europe. We do this using our own skills and resources in combination with the investment capital entrusted to us by our institutional investors. Abris is fortunate in having financial backing from many leading global investment institutions including corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, insurance companies and university endowment funds.

The businesses in which we invest are typically mid-market companies which can benefit from an input of capital and/or management expertise at both strategic and operational levels. We have a long-term investment horizon and expect to hold our investments for approximately three to five years. We operate our business using regionally-based teams, operating from local offices in each of our key target markets. These teams are responsible for identifying, negotiating and structuring investment transactions and are supported in their efforts through an interactive relationship with the Abris regionally-based Investment Committee.

In addition to in-country resources, Abris also has the ability to call upon its regional resources in order to benefit from the sector-specific expertise of certain Abris professionals. In this way our team can more effectively evaluate cross-border opportunities, thereby accelerating the internal investment review process. Such extensive cross-border capability is, we believe, vital to our evaluation process and to our ability fully to develop the full potential of rapidly growing, mid-market businesses in CEE. 

 

Regional & Operational Expertise

Within the private equity industry in Central and Eastern Europe, Abris' investment professionals are distinguished both by the depth of their knowledge and experience in local markets and by their wide-ranging commercial and operational experience.

The senior professionals in the Abris team have all worked in the region since the early 1990s and have built extensive networks and commercial relationships with leading businesses and entrepreneurs over this time. In total, our investment professionals have over 120 years of cumulative private equity experience.

Crucially for supporting our portfolio investments, the majority of Abris' professionals have previously managed businesses across a diverse range of industries, both internationally and locally. This depth of operational experience gives Abris important insights into the many issues and challenges likely to confront local management teams. In short, we are practitioners, not theorists.

 

The Abris Approach to Creating Value

Abris focuses on building businesses over the long-term; typically, investments will be held for four years or more. During this period Abris professionals work closely with our corporate management teams, non-executive directors and advisors to develop and implement strategies which will improve the performance of our portfolio companies and create long-term, lasting value.

The Abris approach is that of a partner in a joint undertaking. We believe in building value in our businesses through actively developing a close working relationship with our portfolio companies, and by encouraging an open and constructive exchange of ideas through the sharing of issues and concerns. We use our own practical business experience to help build understanding and cooperation with our management teams - this enables us jointly to understand and address the issues facing the business.

Through this process, we will together explore alternative strategies for the short and longer term, with a view to implementing those practical actions that will benefit all stakeholders in the business - including its shareholders, management, employees and customers. 

 

 

The Abris Investment Approach and Methodology

The Abris investment approach has been refined over the 14 years that our two Managing Partners have each been active in the private equity industry in Central and Eastern Europe.

We believe that the key to value creation is the close and ongoing involvement on the part of our investment professionals with the management of each of our investee companies. We also believe in supplementing our own input and experience with that of external industry experts and practitioners, by involving them either at board level, as non-executive directors, or as advisors to the company. We do not believe that sustainable long-term results can be derived solely from the application of “financial engineering” techniques.

Abris Investment Criteria

Abris looks to invest in a diversified range of mid-market Central and Eastern European industrial, commercial and service businesses. Our preferred investments will typically have the following characteristics:

• Enterprise value of €15 million to €45 million.
• Leading companies in their sectors.
• Significant growth prospects both domestically and regionally through organic development and /or consolidation opportunities.
• Strong core management teams.
• Predictable cash flows.

The Abris Investment Methodology

Regional Presence:
Abris believes that the successful businesses of CEE are increasingly adopting a regional approach to their commercial development. To properly understand and support such businesses requires Abris to be regional in structure and to operate seamlessly across borders. Today, we are active in all the leading countries of the region and have offices in Warsaw, Bucharest and Kiev. 

 

Experienced Professionals:
Abris has a multi-national team of experienced professionals combining extensive private equity experience, a deep understanding of local markets and their business environments, line-management experience, and a broad range of industrial expertise. 

 

Practitioners:
The majority of individual Abris team members have extensive career experience in operational management across a broad range of sectors and industries, in many cases combined with accounting, finance, law, or management consulting backgrounds. This practical experience is made available to our portfolio companies as needed. 

 

Accessing Local & International Networks:
Abris has a wide-ranging network of relationships with leading national and international business leaders and professionals which it is able to access and deploy to the benefit of its portfolio companies. 

 

Building Successful Management Teams:
Their long experience in the region has enabled Abris’s professionals to build long-standing relationships with a substantial number of experienced executives both within and outside Central and Eastern Europe. This management ‘pool’ provides a valuable resource when building and strengthening portfolio management teams. 

 

Portfolio companies in Poland

• Masterlease
• FM Bank
• Alumetal
• Etos
• PBP Bank
• Siódemka

Portfolio companies elsewhere

• Barvinok
• Golden Foods
• PrimoCollect

 

 

Abris Capital Partners

Grzybowska Park
ul. Grzybowska 5A
00-132 Warsaw
POLAND
Tel: +48 22 564 5858
Fax: +48 22 564 5859
Warsaw@Abris-Capital.com

source: http://www.abris-capital.com/index.php?menu=1