Austrian Kiwwi connects to euro41 million

Investee Company – Kiwwi CEE Holding AG

Investee Company Country – Austria

Investee Company Business Type – Telecommunications provider

Type of Financing – Expansion

Equity Providers – Dresdner Kleinwort Capital, Global Equity Partners, Go Equity

Equity Leader (Individual) – Vijai Gill, Dresdner Kleinwort Capital

Debt Providers – N/A

Debt Type – N/A

Debt Leader (Individual) – N/A

Equity Amount – euro41 million

Total Deal Value – euro41 million

Other Advisors – COM Partners Unternehmensberatungs GesmbH, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Warsaw), Schonherr Barfuss Torggler & Partners, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Weil, Gotshal & Managers

Comments – Dresdner Kleinwort Capital have led a euro41 million second round of funding in Kiwwi CEE Holding AG. The financing represents one of the largest venture capital transactions in Austria to date. Dresdner Kleinwort Capital were joined by two Austrian investment companies, Global Equity Partners and Go Equity.

Headquartered in Vienna, Kiwwi CEE Holding AG is a private telecommunications company founded in August 2000, providing services for 3,000 business telephone customers and 115,000 internet customers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Current focus has been to offer voice-over-IP technology (VoIP) to SME’s.

To date euro11 million has been invested and Kiwwi currently employs 240 people. The company is looking to expand into Poland and Slovenia during the second quarter of 2001, pre-empting a further euro25 million which is planned to be invested by the end of the year.

Vijai Gill, Regional Director for Central Europe at Dresdner Kleinwort Capital, said: “The two forces of increased telecom liberalisation and convergence towards the EU make the region an attractive investment arena.”