OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2008. The Hansa Private Equity Fund of Funds is the first such fund to be set up by people from Eastern Europe with money from Eastern Europe. It represents a unique opportunity to invest in Eastern European private equity, i.e. shares in companies which are not listed on the stock exchange, reported the press-centre of Hansa.

The fund is planned to reach a total value of 100 million euros through major investors. The first subscription round of the fund, which ended on 7 July, saw it reach a value of 30 million euros. “The launch of the Hansa Private Equity Fund of Funds is a true innovation for Estonia,” said Robert Kitt, Chairman of the Board of Hansa Investeerimisfondid.

“Our goal is to produce internationally competitive products,” he explained, adding that with the launch of the fund the company had taken on a unique position in the investment world. Kitt says that the fund is the only one in the world at present which offers people the chance to invest in the Eastern European private equity field in a way that sees their money distributed.

Peeter Piho, the Fund Manager for the Hansa Private Equity Fund of Funds, says that through the 15 funds that form part of it almost 150 Central and Eastern European companies with good growth prospects will be invested in, producing a solid cross-section of the region’s economy.

“A lot of the companies there are not listed on the stock exchange, which is why investors from the West are not getting the most out of the economic growth in the region,” he explained. He says that with the market situation as it is at present – with all of the world’s stock markets suffering in terms of liquidity – now is the best time in the last ten years to invest capital. The extensive interest of international investors in the fund of funds reflects this.

The Hansa Private Equity Fund of Funds is registered in Luxembourg and managed by the team from Hansa Investeerimisfondid. The fund is primarily designed for institutional investors who are Hansabank clients, and the minimum investment amount is 125 thousand euros.

Private equity means an investment on the open market in unlisted shares, or in other words buying shares in companies which show potential and playing an active role in their development. Almost 15 billion euros has been invested in the private equity field in Eastern Europe since the early 1990s, with the figure for 2007 alone reaching 3 billion euros.