IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, with support from the International Development Association (IDA) Private Sector Window, is investing an $8 million in a debut private equity fund by Highland Capital, an investment management firm, to help expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The financing package includes $4 million from IFC’s own account blended with $4 million from the IDA Private Sector Window.
The new Highland Private Equity and Mezzanine Fund, which currently has $15 million in capital commitments, is the first institutional private equity fund in the country. The fund will provide critical growth capital of $800,000 to $5 million to local SMEs in services, agricultural processing, health, education, telecommunications, media, and technology. This is critical because smaller business across the country often struggle to access the capital they need to expand.
IFC’s financing will help the fund to provide risk capital to up to 15 SMEs in the form of equity and quasi-equity financing, while helping them develop strong management systems and corporate governance practices.
“IFC’s investment is part of our broader efforts to foster investments in SMEs while spurring the creation of a local private equity market,” said Cassandra Colbert, IFC Regional Manager for Central Asia. “By supporting the country’s first local private equity fund, we hope to send a strong signal to other investors thinking of entering the Kyrgyz private equity market.”
Original source: IFC
Published on 18 September 2018
