Press-releases

26th October 2007

Oleg Jelezko, Founder and Managing Partner of Da Vinci Capital Management, announced today the intended launch of Da Vinci Capital’s flagship product – the Da Vinci CIS Private Sector Growth Fund – and introduced Da Vinci’s range of hedge funds – the CIS Special Opportunities Series – which will provide structured product access to the publicly traded securities markets in the CIS.

Da Vinci Capital Management focuses on creating alternative investments, private equity and structured products in the CIS region (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Central Asia), and has some 20 specialist investment advisors, directors and partners in Moscow and London.

The Da Vinci CIS Private Sector Growth Fund will be a closed-ended fund investing in pre-IPO opportunities in the CIS.  The Fund will focus on investments within the consumer, retail, infrastructure, engineering, financials and real estate sectors.  The Fund will provide access to that part of the pre-public securities market within the CIS which is at its most dynamic, as well as offer diversification away from the Region’s reliance on commodity and oil/gas stocks.  Although the Fund will have certain private equity characteristics, it is the intention of the Directors of the Fund to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange’s new SFM segment (Specialist Fund Market as soon as is possible following the initial launch of the Fund. The Fund will be managed by Da Vinci Capital Management Limited, and advised by a five person team led by Ms. Natalia Ivanova of Da Vinci Capital OOO (Moscow), the Fund’s Advisors.  Ms. Ivanova was most recently the Fund Manager of Renaissance Capital’s Pre-IPO Fund.

Da Vinci Capital Management will also launch the CIS Special Opportunities Funds, a series of open-ended Cayman Islands hedge funds which will provide targeted access to various asset classes within the CIS, such as real estate, equities, fixed income, etc.  The public markets team will be led by Gleb Yakovlev, who recently managed the equity finance and structured products trading activities at Renaissance Capital.

Da Vinci Capital Management was formed in the summer of 2007, and is a joint venture between Oleg Jelezko and his management team, and BSG.  BSG is a privately held international investment group with over 30 years experience investing in global capital markets, real estate, commodities, precious metals, and oil and gas.  Mr. Jelezko was previously head of the Equity Structure Products Group within Renaissance Capital.  Da Vinci Capital currently manages $250mn in direct private and partner funds, and will seek to raise an additional $750mn in assets in 2007/08.