Mid Europa first close for record fund

Mid Europa Partners, a Central and Eastern Europe buyout firm, has raised the largest fund focused on the region to date with just the first close of Mid Europa Fund III.

Fund III has raised more than €1bn for its first close, with fundraising launched in May this year. A cap of €1.5bn has been put on Mid Europa Fund III, for which MVision Private Equity is acting as placement agent, with a final close expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Investors recognise both the scale of the buyout opportunities in Central Europe and our ability as a market leader to realise them,” said Thierry Baudon, managing partner at Mid Europa Partners. “The increased fund size will ensure that Mid Europa is well positioned to exploit the increasing deal flow available to it.”

Previously, Enterprise Investors’ €658m Polish Enterprise Fund VI, closed in September 2006, was the largest fund raised for the region.

Mid Europa Fund III will invest between €50m and €200m for controlling stakes in cashflow-generative businesses with enterprise values of up to €1bn.

Most recently, Mid Europa Partners bought Polish healthcare providers Medycyna Rodzinna and LUX-MED, both for undisclosed sums, and acquired cable, broadband and satellite television company Serbia Broadband. In June, Mid Europa partnered with France Telecom/Orange to buy Austrian mobile company One for €1.4bn, the largest ever leveraged buyout in the country.