March 21 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's financial regulator said it has given approval to investment fund KJK Fund II to indirectly acquire qualified holdings in Bulgarian insurers Euroins, Euroins Life and EIG Re, all units of Sofia-based Euroins Insurance Group (EIG).
The regulator did not provide any further details in a statement issued late on Tuesday.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
EIG operates in eight European countries and has subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and Ukraine. EIG is a subsidiary of financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria [BUL:4EH].
KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF is managed by Luxembourg-registered KJK Management.
On December 29, Eurohold Bulgaria said investment fund KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF's stake in the company has fallen to 12.46% from 15.26% as a result of the Sofia-based holding company's recent capital hike. In December, Eurohold increased its capital to 197.5 million levs ($121.1 million/101.0 million euro) from 161.3 million levs via a new share issue. The holding company raised 47.0 million levs through the capital hike.
Earlier in December, KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF acquired 2.3 million Eurohold Bulgaria shares at a weighted average price of 1.3 levs apiece, growing its stake to 15.26% from 12.69%.
KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF first acquired a stake in Eurohold in 2014, when it paid 15.7 million levs for 12% interest in the Bulgarian group.
In Bulgaria, KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF also owns a 60% stake in bicycles producer Leader, which it acquired in September 2016. Leader is among the biggest bicycles makers in Southeast Europe (SEE), generating a turnover of over 35 million euro per year and employing more than 500 people.
The fund also has stakes in several companies elsewhere in SEE.
In 2014, KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF acquired a majority stake in Slovenian metal and plastics processing group Iskra ISD. The fund also owns a 41% stake in Slovenian industrial bakery operator Don Don, which it acquired in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the fund bought Slovenian plastic components maker Tomplast and now controls 100% of it together with the company’s management. KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF also owns an 89% stake in Slovenian kitchen equipment maker Kovino.
In Romania, the fund holds a 10% stake in plastic products manufacturer Teraplast Group [BSE:TRP].
KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF, has two active sub funds - KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF Balkan, launched in 2012, and KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF Balkan Discovery, launched in 2014. KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF Balkan is closed for subscriptions and is fully invested, while KJK Fund II SICAV-SIF Balkan Discovery is still actively investing.
Both sub funds aim to build a diversified portfolio of private and public small and medium-sized companies in the Balkan countries, focusing on Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)