OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2010. Abris Capital Partners, the leading mid-market CEE-focused private equity group, announced that it had acquired key retail assets of Torgovyi Svit from Roveks, a Ternopil-based wholesale distributor, in return for the settlement of bank debts with a number of Ukrainian banks and for assumption of supplier debt associated with the retail assets. The 17 Torgovyi stores will be rebranded as “Barvinok,” Abris’ existing Western Ukrainian food retailer.  The Barvinok chain will now total 43 stores.

The acquisition was completed following lengthy restructuring negotiations with the owners, creditor banks, and suppliers. Commenting on the restructuring transaction, Roberta Brzezinski, a Partner at Abris, commented: “This transaction represents a meaningful step forward for Barvinok, Roveks, and the creditor group. We hope to continue the growth of Barvinok in Western Ukraine.”

Michael Harrison, Barvinok CEO, added: “We are looking forward to bringing Barvinok’s approach of unrelenting focus on the customer and customer value to Ternopil.”

Throughout the transaction, Abris was advised by Dragon Capital. Andrei Pivovarsky, Director of Investment Banking at Dragon Capital, commented: “To our knowledge, the Roveks transaction represents the first successful post-crisis restructuring in the food retail sector in Ukraine.”

Abris received acquisition financing from WorldBusiness Capital, Inc. (WBC) a US lender that provides loans to small and midsize businesses in emerging markets throughout the world.   WBC’s loan was supported by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an agency of the U.S. government that fosters economic development in new and emerging markets.