Private small businesses in Kyrgyzstan will benefit from the establishment of Highland Private Equity and Mezzanine Fund (HPEMF), the first independent private equity fund in the country supported by the EBRD. The fund will offer alternative growth and development opportunities to small domestic businesses currently depending on bank lending, Trend reports citing Kabar.
The EBRD is supporting the new fund with an equity investment of US$ 8 million following its first successful closing at US$ 15 million in 2018, and significantly contributes towards the fund’s final closing size of US$ 23 million.
The fund, managed by the investment firm Highland Capital Partners (Highland), is the first institutional mezzanine and private equity fund focussed solely on the Kyrgyz Republic.
Through its support of local emerging fund managers such as Highland, and through its commitment to HPEMF, the EBRD is also supporting the development of the private equity industry in the country and in turn across the wider Central Asia region.
To date, the EBRD has invested almost €790 million through 191 projects in the economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, with a majority of investments supporting private entrepreneurship.