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EMSA Capital (formerly CRG Capital) is a private equity firm specializing in investing in companies challenged by the need to effect immediate and significant change – Special Situations. This area includes turnarounds, restructurings, bankruptcies, divestitures and companies that are in default of obligations or have a history of recurring losses. EMSA stands for Emerging Markets Special Assets.

We take an active role in our investments in order to improve their performance for the benefit of shareholders and other stakeholders. Active in CEE since 1992, EMSA Capital – initially known as The Recovery Group or TRG, later as CRG Capital – pioneered restructuring and performance improvement in the region. Our team has more than 75 years of combined experience in special situations, of which 50 have been in Central and Eastern Europe.
EMSA Capital has partnered with Pamoja Capital, a Geneva-based private investment firm that invests the capital of John H. McCall MacBain and the McCall MacBain Foundation.

EMSA Capital focuses exclusively on special situations in Central and Eastern Europe. EMSA Capital is a private equity firm investing in underperforming, distressed and other special situation companies across Central and Eastern Europe. We take an active role in our investments in order to improve their performance for the benefit of shareholders and other stakeholders.

In particular, we invest in:

Direct control equity investments
Non-performing debt instruments
Stranded or end-of-life regional private equity funds
Other special situations, including:
- non-core divestitures
- strategic bankruptcies
- shareholder disputes and
- unsuccessful mergers and expansions

Our focus is on improving operations and enhancing business and financial strategy of our investments. We create value by effectively applying our tested and successful restructuring and performance improvement methods. In the funds EMSA Capital has managed, operational improvements accounted for a large majority of the value created.
Our experience in the region evolved from the manager of large World Bank and USAID projects (1992-1997) to interim manager of underperforming companies (1997-2002) to manager of stranded private equity funds (2002-2007).
EMSA Capital has access to a wide network of turnaround and restructuring capabilities in the United States and Europe and can draw on additional resources on as needed basis.

Differentiation

EMSA Capital's focus on underperformers and special situations makes both our positioning and investment criteria unique. Unlike typical private equity firms, we would consider investing in the following situations as well:

Target company does not need to be a market leader, just have a viable core business.
Strong management team is not a must; EMSA Capital will invest in companies with or without management.
Strong revenue / profitability / growth rates are not a condition, the turnaround potential is the key
Companies experiencing negative cash flows and/or lack of profitability
Companies with overleveraged balance sheets and depleted working capital or tight liquidity.

Investment Team

EMSA Capital professionals combine over 75 years of experience in investing, turning around, and managing special situation assets in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the US and Western Europe. EMSA Capital’s senior team members have an average of 12 years in working together.

Parham Pouladdej

Managing Partner

Parham Pouladdej has over 23 years experience in developing and implementing financial, operational, and strategic plans for underperforming and turnaround companies, including in special situations private equity funds.
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Dorian Macovei

Director

Dorian has over 10 years of experience in private equity, restructuring, privatization and financial consulting in various countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Italy, and the Baltic States.
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Michael Cullinane

Director

Michael Cullinane has over 20 years experience working with distressed companies and has performed numerous financial restructurings for creditors.
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Jonathan Nighswander

Director

Jonathan Nighswander is a finance professional with extensive international experience, specializing in financial restructuring and interim management.
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Anton Forint

Investment Manager

Anton Forint has over 25 years’ experience as operations manager, investment manager, and consultant. Most recently, Anton served as Investment Manager at CEE Private Equity Fund and Baltic Fund I.
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Istvan Lakos

Investment Manager

An experienced financial analyst and investment manager. Before joining the EMSA Capital team in 2007, Istvan worked for Raiffeisen Private Equity Management, participating in several investment projects both on the buyer and seller side.
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Rafal Rachalewski

Investment Manager

Rafal has worked in the investment management and consulting industries since 1998. Beginning his career as a member of an American multinational company his focus was on operations and financial improvements of large and medium size enterprises in Poland.
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Tomas Holly

Associate

Tomas has over seven years of corporate finance experience in Central Europe. He specializes in turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, financial modeling, valuations and due diligence.
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Uros Benedicic

Associate

Uros has over 5 years of corporate finance and private equity experience in South Eastern Europe.
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Philosophy

EMSA Capital’s investment philosophy is based on our long term involvement in the restructuring and performance improvement as well as on our heritage in the CEE region.

EMSA Capital understands that underperforming, even substantially distressed companies often have underlying viable, potentially competitive core businesses. With a timely investment, restructured balance sheet and successful operational turnaround, these companies can avoid liquidation and again become valuable contributors to national and regional economies. Distressed investment, therefore, can offer significant value creation and benefits for the stakeholders.

Process

The nature of special situations investments is that they require direct on-going involvement and experience to redirect them towards sustainable growth.

Quick due diligence and closing process. Speed is of essence in special situations, given a potentially fast deterioration of value. Time for due diligence, negotiation, and closing has to correspond with the circumstances.
Taking effective action quickly. Initial actions to reverse the spiral and begin the change include taking an activist position for shareholder and control rights, organizing stakeholders to support the turnaround, quickly establishing a restructuring plan, and creating liquidity.
Forming the Management Core (in parallel). We establish management teams that are capable of implementing a turnaround. In addition, in every portfolio company, we deploy at least one of our team members to facilitate the restructuring.
Hands-On Operational Financial and Strategic Improvements. The phase focuses on operational, financial and strategic improvements.
Operational improvements focus on resizing the company to its core business. They include, among other, plant consolidation, overhead rationalization, product line rationalization, downsizing, cycle time reduction, supply chain improvement, and excess asset monetization.
Financial improvements aim at fixing the balance sheet. They consist of liquidity improvement, vendor negotiation, and balance sheet restructuring, and recapitalization.
Strategic improvements build a foundation for the longer term success of the company. They include a strict focus on the core business, asset repositioning, value chain improvement, etc.
Tailored exit strategies and management. Our hands-on involvement in the companies allows us to develop effective exit strategies for each asset and maximize shareholder value.

Criteria

Target company size	Annual sales between €25 and €150 million
Investment Size	Up to €25 million
Control	Majority required
Geographic focus	EU countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Slovenia Non-EU countries: Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, and Ukraine
Industries	Generalist, excluding regulated industries

Benefits

Development of special situations funds will have a major positive impact for the stakeholders:

Value to distressed companies

Putting collateral assets back into productive use, while avoiding liquidations and preserving and creating value for all stakeholders
Deleveraging balance sheets and restructuring debts to sustainable levels, and
Inducing managerial, operational, and financial improvements, and increasing their competitiveness

Value to financial markets

Providing liquidity and risk capital to the marketplace, which will allow financial institutions to place amount held as collateral back into the system for productive use
Cleaning banks’ balance sheets and reallocating resources to productive companies, and
Developing secondary debt markets

Value to the business environment

Accelerating compliance with environmental & accounting standards, corporate governance
Providing investors with risk mitigation, divestment routes, out-of-court resolution
Promoting international insolvency standards and creditors' rights, and
Creating a positive precedent, knowledge and expertise in the currently under-developed asset class in the region

Currently Under Management

	Retail, Azerbaijan Azeri Retail is a new, fast-growing modern retailer in Azerbaijan. Our vision is to become the leading food retailer in Azerbaijan www.sebet.az
	Confectionery, Hungary Bonbonetti is one of the leading confectionary companies in Central and Eastern Europe with 140 years in praline and chocolate manufacturing tradition. www.bonbonetti.hu
	Information technology, Czech Republic ICZ is one of the leading integrated Czech IT services company with a special focus on security aspects and complex IT solutions with a high level of customization. www.i.cz

Exited Investments

	Communication systems, Poland Exit Date: 2011 Wind Telecom is the leading developer and integrator of communications systems. The Company provides complex telecommunications solutions, primarily focusing on contact centers. www.windtelecom.pl
	Beverages, Poland Exit Date: 2009 Wosana is a water and juices business operating in Poland. The company owns several sources of high quality spring water and has manufacturing facilities in three locations in Poland. www.wosana.pl
	Entertainment, Hungary Exit Date: 2006 InterCom is the largest film, video and DVD distributor and cinema exhibitor in Hungary. www.intercom.hu
Baltic Fund Hotel	Real estate, Lithuania Exit Date: 2004 The fund acquired a landmark 7,000 sqm building constructed in 1890 in Gedeminio Street, the main shopping avenue in Vilnius and obtained a 99-year land lease from the municipality with intention to develop a 5* Hotel.
	Wood processing, Latvia Exit Date: 2004 Lindeks is one of the largest wood processing and timber trading companies in Latvia. In addition the company operates a port terminal and a retail chain. www.lindeks.lv
	Construction materials, Lithuania Exit Date: 2004 Dvarcioniu Keramika AB is the largest and most advanced producer of ceramic tiles in the Baltic countries and the only producer in Lithuania. The company has over 115 year tiles production experience. www.keramika.lt
Klaipeda Free Economic Zone	Free economic zone, Lithuania Exit Date: 2004 Klaipeda Free Economic Zone is an area occupying 205 hectares located in a strategic position by the port-city of Klaipeda.
	Textile, Latvia Exit Date: 2003 Lauma is the leading lingerie producer in the Baltic region. www.lauma.lv
Real estate, Estonia Exit Date: 2003 Ober-Haus is the largest real estate agency operating across the Baltic and Central European region including Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. www.ober-haus.lt