OREANDA-NEWS. Creativ Group, one of the most successful players on the fats and oils market in Ukraine, has placed 23.4% of its shares among foreign portfolio investors, raising $30m. The transaction puts the company's market capitalization at $128m.

Kiev-based Dragon Capital, Ukraine's leading investment bank, acted as co-lead manager and sole placement agent on the transaction along with Ukrainian Delphi Capital. The private placement in Creativ Group attracted more than 15 investment funds and private investors from across Europe. The shares will list on the PFTS, Ukraine's premiere stock exchange, with a listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Bloomberg: 4C8A GR) via Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), to give investors greater liquidity and expose Creativ Group stock to a broader circle of international investors.

According to the Dragon Capital press service, the placement of Creativ Group shares marks the first such transaction in Ukraine's fats and oils market and highlights considerable investor sentiment in the sector. Over the past three years, Creativ Group management has achieved 47% average annual growth in sales with plans to maintain this momentum through 2009. At present, the company strategy involves assuming domestic market leadership and increasing market share in the CIS in the near term as well as moving into other promising areas such as hybrid fuels and soybean and rapeseed processing.

All of the funds raised in the placement will go to replenishing the company's working capital. In the words of Creativ Group CEO and Supervisory Board Chair Yuriy Davidov, the increased capital will allow the company to build a new soybean protein processing plant (to come online in 2H2008) and improve the company's logistics operations. Furthermore, the company intends to expand its oilseed processing capacities to 290,000 tonnes per year and gradually integrate the company's production facilities with its own agricultural production.

"The private placement is an important step in the growth of our company," Mr Davidov says. -" This represents the first step towards the creation of a truly public company and forms a vital part of our business development strategy, which will allow us to continue our present rate of growth and achieve net sales of $400m by 2009. "

Dragon Capital Managing Director for Investment Banking Brian Best explains: " We believe the Creativ Group placement happened at the right time. The Ukrainian food industry and the fats and oils market in particular have become highly attractive for investors. The dynamic growth and significant potential of Creativ Group, together with its 10 years of experience on the market led to high demand for company shares." 

Dragon Capital (www.dragon-capital.ua) is Ukraine's largest securities brokerage, investment banking, private equity and asset management firm, offering a wide range of services to institutional, corporate and private clients. Since the start-up in 2000, Dragon Capital has been the largest broker on the PFTS, Ukraine's premiere stock market, accounting for 33% of the total stock turnover over 2006-07. Dragon's IB division has completed 18 IPOs and private placements, raising more than $1bn for Ukrainian companies since 2005, and has helped local corporates attract more than $500m in debt. Financial magazine Euromoney has recognized Dragon Capital five times as Best Equity House in Ukraine (2002, 2004-07).