Poteza holds final close on Adriatic Fund

Slovenian private equity firm Poteza has reached final close on its Adriatic Fund at €66.5m. The fund was launched in May 2003 and held a first close in August with €30m. It will concentrate on company buyouts, restructurings and expansions primarily in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but may also make investments in other countries in south eastern Europe.

It will invest between €6m and €8m per deal in those sectors that are expected to experience good growth in the coming years, in particular financial services and manufacturing, but the fund is not industry specific. It will not be investing in arms, tobacco or alcohol sectors.

Slovenian and international investors have committed capital and the Poteza management are to commit at least 15 per cent of the fund’s equity. The IFC is a cornerstone investor and has equalled Poteza’s own commitment.

Poteza had stated last year that the target size was €75m. Rok Petric, a partner at Poteza, said: “We originally intended to have a smaller fund of perhaps €30m or €40m but then we saw that the domestic response was quite positive we then structured the fund to ensure that we could have a fund up to €75m. Foreign investors do not have the funds ear-marked for this area yet and they are still exploring and maybe in three to four years time they will be ready.”

One investment has been made so far in IBL Sistmi, a Slovenian-based manufacturer of automated warehouse solutions.