The TAS Group of Sergiy Tigipko has reached a preliminary agreement on acquisition of PrJSC Kuznya on Rybalsky Plant (both based in Kyiv), the press service of the group told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
“At the current stage an application to buy shares in PrJSC Kuznya on Rybalsky Plant has been submitted to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. After receiving a permit from the regulator, the sides plan to continue finalizing the deal,” the press service said in response to the official inquiry by Interfax-Ukraine.
“The cost of the deal and its terms are not disclosed. The TAS Group will announce its plans on the further development of the enterprise after receiving the permit from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine,” the press service said.
According to the response to the inquiry, the preliminary agreement on the deal to buy shares in the shipyard was reached after holding negotiations between the TAS Group and the owner of Kuznya on Rybalsky Plant.
“The TAS Group is actively investing in the Ukrainian economy and considering those investment projects that meet its long-term development strategy,” the press service said.
Kuznya on Rybalsky is a famous shipyard on the Ukrainian market. The key shareholder in the plant privatized in 1995 is the non-diversified corporate investment fund Prime Assets Capital (earlier Petro Poroshenko fund, Kyiv).
The gross occupancy of logistics real estate in the Ukrainian market in January-June 2018 increased by 43% compared to the same period in 2017 and amounted to approximately 100,000 square meters, according to statistics given in the study of CBRE Ukraine international consulting company (Kyiv). According to the CBRE Ukraine survey, the share of occupancy of warehouses by large retailers was 58%, by light industry, pharmaceutical and medical companies some 26%. About 62% of rental transactions were associated with relocation or extension.
The share of large transactions (more than 10,000 square meters) was 23% and was represented by leasing 20,000 square meters by Comfy in the Raben warehouse complex near Kyiv, as well as 20,000 square meters by Eldorado with the move to RLC Fozzy Distribution Center.
According to CBRE Ukraine, the vacancy rate in the first half of 2018 decreased by 2 p.p. and amounted to 4%.
The declared rent rates in A class warehouses at the end of the first half of the year were in the range of $4.6-6 per square meter a month. Effective rental rates in A class warehouse complexes ranged from $3.4 to $5.2 per square meter a month, while in B class warehouse complexes they stood at the level of $2.5-3.4, where the upper limit has grown by 13% since the beginning of the year. As a result of fluctuations in the exchange rate, rates in U.S. dollars were unstable, while most of the deals were signed in hryvnia.
Horizon Capital managed fund has entered into a transaction to acquire a minority stake in Intellias, a leading IT services provider with operations in Ukraine, headquartered in Lviv. With this backing, Intellias will expand its operations in Eastern and Central Europe, the IT company said in a press release on Friday.
The size of the stake and other details of the deal are not disclosed.
“We are delighted to attract Horizon Capital’s backing as we broaden our delivery footprint in Ukraine and beyond. Intellias is among the fastest-growing IT Services providers with operations in Ukraine, having expanded from circa 150 employees in 2013 to over 1,100 now,” Co-founder and CEO at Intellias Vitaly Sedler said.
According to the report, to increase its client service capabilities, Intellias is expanding its delivery hubs beyond Lviv, Kyiv, and Odesa, with Kharkiv and Ivano-Frankivsk next in development, as well as locations in Central and Eastern Europe.
“We view this investment as marking a new chapter in our development, allowing us to raise the bar even further, to the benefit of our customers and employee,” Co-founder and Chairman of the Board at Intellias Michael Puzrakov said.
Intellias was founded in Lviv, in 2002 and by 2018 has evolved into a strong supplier of software development services, with a core delivery base in Ukraine. Intellias has been consistently ranking among the highest scoring IT Services employers in Ukraine and the fastest growing IT Services providers, having expanded in size over 10 times during the last six years.
Intellias was co-founded by Sedler and Puzrakov and continues to be founder-run.
Horizon Capital was established in 2006. It manages private equity funds Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF, established in 1994 with a capital of $150 million), Emerging Europe Growth Fund, L.P. (EEGF, established in 2006 with a capital of $132 million) and EEGF II (EEGF, established in 2008 with $370 million capital).
The money of these funds is invested in projects in Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus.
In June 2016, OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) said that the OPIC would provide up to $37.5 million to EEGF III launched by Horizon Capital
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a plan of implementation of the public policy strategy on the population’s healthy and active longevity until 2022. “The resolution is passed to implement the state policy strategy on population’s healthy and active longevity until 2022, including provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, EU, European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and for the creation of favorable conditions for healthy ageing and active longevity, adaptation of public institutions to further demographic ageing and the development of a society of equal opportunities for people of any age,” Ukraine’s Social Policy Ministry said.
Ukraine is among the 30 oldest countries in the world according to the proportion of people aged 60 and over. This figure was 21.8%, and the percentage of people aged 65 and over was 15.5% of the total number of population in 2015.
Ukraine’s demographic forecast notes people aged over 60 will account for 25% of the total population by the year of 2025, and people aged 65 – 18.4%. Same age strata will account for more than 26% and more than 20%, respectively, by the year 2030.
Implementation of the action plan will help solving problems associated with population ageing. Such measures will facilitate protection of the elderly citizen’s rights with the concentration of efforts in priority areas – improvement of the conditions for older citizens’ self-realization and their participation in the society’s development, promoting their health and well-being; and creating of the environment, which is favorable for active living.
Ukraine in 2018 could increase exports of poultry by 7.4%, to 290,000 tonnes, the Union of Poultry Farmers of Ukraine has said. “A record-breaking amount of poultry meat was exported in 2017 – 270,000 tonnes. This indicator will reach 290,000 tonnes in 2018. Along with the increase in exports, there is a tendency to increase the import of poultry meat to Ukraine. In the past year, 116,000 tonnes was imported, and in the current year it is expected to reach 130,000 tonnes,” Director General of the association Serhiy Karpenko said in the report of the association.
According to him, in the course of 2017, 66,700 tonnes of poultry and meat products were exported to the EU and Ukraine was the third among all countries exporting to the EU countries. “The growth in industrial production of broiler meat by 3.3% or by 30,000 tonnes was seen in 2017. For the seven months ending July 2018, production in agricultural enterprises increased by 5.6%,” Karpenko said.
Consumption of eggs in 2017 was 247 units per person. In 2018, the association predicts an increase in the consumption of eggs to 254 pieces per person.
Arricano Real Estate Plc (Cyprus), a managing company and developer of some shopping and leisure centers in Ukraine, in January-June 2018 saw $13.9 million in net profit, which is 12.6% less than in H1 2017.
According to a company report on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday, revenue grew by 14.5%, to $14.8 million.
According to the document, the decline in profit was linked with less gain on revaluation of investment property: $9.77 million in H1 2018 compared with $15.63 million in H1 2017.
Total profit over the period grew by 4.6%, to $22.13 million.
Pre-tax profit as of June 30, 2018 fell by 12.2%, reaching $16.2 million compared with $18.4 million a year ago.
Total fair valuation of the company’s portfolio increased by $19.1 million to $240.4 million and occupancy increased to 99.7% as at June 30, 2018 (June 30, 2017: 98.8%). The company signed 68 new lease agreements during H1 2018 compared to 52 in H1 2017.
According to the company’s report, this was a good performance increasing occupancy and achieving an average rental rate (excluding hypermarkets) of $18.5 per sq.m.
Net asset value totaled $74.3 million (December 31, 2017: $52.2 million).
Bank debt at the half-year end was $39.5 million, with the majority of borrowings at the project level at an average rate of 11.5% (in H1 2017 11.1%).
In addition, the company had $4 million of cash and cash equivalents, and non-bank loans of $57.8 million as at June 30, 2018.
The three development sites covering 14 ha in Lukianivka (Kyiv), Petrivka (Kyiv), and Rozumovska (Odesa) continue to be progressed, the company said.
