United Capital Partners

Last updated
UCP Investment Group
Type Investment fund
Industry Financial services
Founded2006;16 years ago (2006)
Headquarters
Moscow
,
Russia
Key people
 Ilya Sherbovich (founder, president and managing partner of UCP)
Website ucp.com/en/

UCP Investment Group is an independent asset management company investing in publicly traded securities and private companies with a primary focus on the Russian market. [1]

Contents

UCP’s investment portfolio includes assets in the industrial, oil & gas and infrastructure sectors, retail and consumer goods, private pension funds and internet technologies. As of August 2013, the total value of assets under management was estimated at 3.5 billion dollars. [2] [3]

History

UCP was established in 2006 by a group of former employees and shareholders of United Financial Group (UFG), one of the Russia’s largest investment banks, following UFG’s acquisition by Deutsche Bank. Ilya Sherbovich, the former president of UFG, was the originator of the idea to create UCP; however he only became president of UCP in September 2007 after the integration of UFG into DeutscheUFG. At that point, he also became the owner of a controlling stake in UCP. [1] [4]

Following Sherbovich’s move from Deutsche Bank about 20 people also left the firm to join UCP, including two managing directors of the investment banking department – Victoria Lazareva and Mikhail Trofimov. [5] [6] [7]

UCP has acquired a reputation as an activist investor seeking to increase the capitalization of its portfolio companies by ensuring compliance with the rules and standards of corporate governance. [8] [9]

As of 2016, Ilya Sherbovish, president and managing partner, owns 77.7% of UCP Group of companies. [10]

Investments

Retail and food production sectors

In April 2007, UCP acquired from Vladimir Gruzdev a 10% stake in Fashion Continent, a clothing retailer operating a chain of stores under the Incity brand. [11] By the summer of 2010, UCP’s stake amounted to 27.75%. [12] [13] [14]

UCP was a shareholder in a leading Russian juice producer Lebedyansky and owned a minority stake in its baby food manufacturing division, Progress, which was spun off from Lebedyansky prior to its sale to PepsiCo in 2008. [15] [16] [17]

Financial sector infrastructure

An investment in Russian Trading System (RTS), Russia’s leading stock exchange, was the fund’s first successful project. The holding was sold at a significant profit in 2008. [3] [18] [17] In 2011-2013 UCP completed a series of acquisitions of shares in the St Petersburg Exchange. [19]

In October 2013, UCP acquired a corporate pension fund from Norilsk Nickel. Later the pension fund was renamed ‘NPF Nasledie (Heritage)’ and UCP concluded a partnership agreement with the Alor group of companies. Alor was also appointed manager of the pension fund. [20] [21]

Natural resources and infrastructure companies

As a result of three transactions with Novatek in 2007 and 2010, UCP sold three companies holding geological exploration licenses in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. [22]

In 2008, UCP acquired the diamond producer, Severalmaz. The business was sold to Alrosa at the end of 2011. [23]

In June 2010, UCP acquired from the Integra group of companies a 100% stake in Uralmash-Drilling equipment (URBO), a producer of heavy drilling rigs. [24] During the same year, UCP and Uralmash established a joint holding Uralmash-Drilling equipment (Uralmash NGO Holding), which included URBO and several drilling rig servicing companies. UCP increased its share in this joint venture to 85% in 2012. [25]

In April 2014, Gazprombank and UCP (on a parity basis) became owners of Stroygazconsulting  [ ru ] — a large oil & gas contractor. [26]

Over several years prior to 2014, UCP built a 15.46% stake in Chelyabinsk Zink  [ ru ] which was later increased to 26.95% as a result of significant minority stake acquisition from Aton. According to media reports, in August 2015 UCP has sold its stake which then had a market value of 8.8 bn roubles. [27]

In 2015, UCP acquired a minority stake of 1.825% in Eurasia Drilling Company (EDC). In November 2015, controlling shareholders of the company conducted a buyout of minorities and delisted the company from the LSE. UCP and other minority shareholders considered that the buyback price was substantially below fair market value and filed a lawsuit in the Cayman courts against EDC. According to Kommersant, in July 2017 the parties signed a settlement agreement whereby the company agreed to pay a significant premium to the 2015 buyback price to UCP and other dissenting shareholders which ended the legal dispute. [28]

Technology

In 2010, UCP acquired 5% in Monocrystal, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synthetic sapphire for high-tech applications in electronics, optical devices and metallization pastes for solar cells. UCP increased its stake in 2011. In 2012, UCP exited the investment by selling its stake back to the founding shareholder. [29]

Online Services

In April 2013, a consortium of investors led by UCP acquired a 48% stake in VK.com (VKontakte) from Vyacheslav Mirilashvili and Lev Leviev, co-founders of the social network. In August 2013, a dispute arose with Pavel Durov, another co-founder, CEO and 12% shareholder of VKontakte. UCP alleged that Durov had a conflict of interest as he had developed his own internet messenger, Telegram, using the resources of VKontakte and required him to transfer Telegram to VKontakte’s ownership. In December 2013, Durov sold his shares to Ivan Tavrin, the then CEO of MegaFon (a subsidiary of USM Holdings), and in March 2014 Tavrin sold this stake to Mail.ru Group, another subsidiary of USM Holdings. Pavel Durov stepped down as CEO of VKontakte in April 2014. In September 2014, UCP sold its stake to Mail.Ru Group for $1.4 7bn while VKontakte as a whole was valued at $2.917 bn. As a result, Mail.Ru owned 100% of the social network, while UCP was reputed to have made a profit of $470-570 mln over the 17-month period. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38]

In December 2014, UCP invested in Russian start-up Youdo.com  [ ru ], an online on-demand service marketplace which matches users with independent household and business service providers. [39] [40] In July 2016, UCP, Flint Capital, and Sistema Venture Capital provided Youdo.com with a further $6.2M to finance geographical expansion. [41]

Oil transportation and oil refining

Forbes magazine previously reported that, since 2011, UCP had been accumulating preferred shares of Transneft, the Russian oil pipeline monopoly. By mid-May 2016, UCP was the largest minority shareholder of Transneft. According to Forbes, as of May 2016, controlled Transneft stake with a total value of c. $1.3 bn. [42] Later that year, UCP became involved in a legal dispute with Transneft management. UCP were demanding equal distribution of dividends for ordinary and preferred shares, that management should stop understating the profits and a full report on the company’s derivatives transactions which had caused multibillion-dollar losses for Transneft in 2014-2015. [43] [44] [45] As a result of UCP’s shareholder activism, in December 2016 Transneft adopted a dividend policy setting dividend payouts at 25% of IFRS net income, i.e. substantially higher than historical payouts. [8] In March 2017, in line with UCP’s demands, Transneft amended its charter to guarantee equal distribution of dividends to preferred and common shareholders. [46] In March 2017, UCP sold 1.1 mln preferred shares for c.$3 bn to a group of financial investors. [46] [45] [47]

Oil chemicals, oil refining, energy

In 2009-2011, UCP acquired a 24.99% stake in the petrochemical and oil refinery Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat. In May 2011, UCP exited the investment. [48] [49]

In December 2015, UCP acquired a 9.7% stake in the utilities company Inter RAO from Norilsk Nickel for $152.6 mln. In March 2016, Inter RAO bought back from UCP 1.1% of its shares. In October 2016, UCP sold the remaining 8.6% for $497 mln. [50]

In October 2016, a consortium of investors, which included Trafigura, an international commodities trader, UCP and Essar signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire a 49% stake in Essar Oil. Essar owns the second largest private oil refinery in India, an oil storage and port facility near the city of Vadinar, as well as a chain of more than 2,700 gas stations in India. Essar Oil was valued at $12.9 bn (including debt of $4.7 bn). Effective shares of UCP and Trafigura in EOL are 24% each. The transaction was completed in August 2017. [51] [52]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosneft</span> Russian energy company headquartered in Moscow

PJSC Rosneft Oil Company is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products. The company is controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company. Its name is a portmanteau of the Russian words Rossiyskaya neft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transneft</span> Russian oil and gas company

Joint Stock Company Transneft is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Transneft is operating over 70,000 kilometres (43,000 mi) of trunk pipelines and transports about 80% of oil and 30% of oil products produced in Russia. The company is led by Nikolay Tokarev.

Gazprom-Media is the largest Russian media holding. Gazprom-Media was established in January 1998 as a subsidiary of the 1997 established Gazprom Media Holdings. On its founding in 1997, Gazprom Media Holdings was a subsidiary of Gazprom, a large Russian company founded in 1989, which carries on the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of natural gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VK (service)</span> Russian social media and social networking service

VK is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predominantly used by Russian speakers. VK users can message each other publicly or privately, create groups, public pages, and events; share and tag images, audio, and video; and play browser-based games.

JSC Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port is the third largest port operator in Europe and Russia's largest commercial sea port operator. The company is headquartered in the city of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast. The company operates the Port of Novorossiysk and the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Baltiysk. In 2017, the company oversaw a cargo turnover of 143.5 million tons. The company handled about 18% of total cargo turnover in Russia in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnit</span> Russian retail market leader by number of stores

Magnit is one of Russia's largest food retailers. It was founded in 1994 in Krasnodar by Sergey Galitsky. As of March 2016, the company had 12,434 stores in 2,385 locations. They include 9,715 convenience stores, 225 hypermarkets, 2,337 Magnit Cosmetics stores and 157 Magnit family stores. The company employs more than 140,000 people and has been opening several dozen stores each month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavel Durov</span> Russian-born entrepreneur and founder of Telegram

Pavel Valeryevich Durov is a Russian-born French-Emirati entrepreneur who is known for being the founder of the social networking site VK and Telegram Messenger. He is the younger brother of Nikolai Durov. For some years after his dismissal as CEO of VK in 2014, the Durov brothers travelled the world in self-imposed exile as citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2017, Pavel joined the World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leaders as a representative of Finland. Durov was naturalized as a French citizen in August 2021. As of 29 September 2022, his net worth is estimated at US$15.1 billion.

Microgen is Russia's largest producer of immunobiological products, one of the three largest pharmaceutical companies in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lev Binzumovich Leviev</span> Israeli-Russian entrepreneur and investor

Lev Binzumovich Leviev is an Israeli-Russian entrepreneur and investor, founder of international venture capital firm LVL1, co-founder of Russia's largest social network VK.com and the Selectel data center network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikolay Kononov</span> Russian journalist and writer

Nikolay Kononov is a Russian writer and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of The Firm's Secret from 2014 to 2017, then editorial director until 2018. The author of four books: Deux Sine Machina: Stories of 20 crazy people who made business in Russia from scratch (2011), Code of Durov. The real story of the social network "VKontakte" and its creator (2012), Author, scissors, paper. How to write impressive texts quickly. 14 lessons (2017), The Uprising (2019), and The Night We Fled (2022).

MDK is the most popular community in social network VK.com with more than 8.3 million followers. By May 2016, MDK grew into a network of communities with a total monthly audience of about 20 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilya Sherbovich</span> Russian businessman and investor (born 1974)

Ilya Sherbovich is a Russian investor and fly-fisherman. He is the founder, president and managing partner of UCP Investment Group and the owner of the Ponoi River Company. As a sport fisherman, Sherbovich has set 19 fly-fishing world records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Ponomarenko</span> Russian entrepreneur

Alexander Anatolyevich Ponomarenko is a Russian-Cypriot billionaire businessman who made his fortune in banking, sea ports, commercial real estate and airport construction.

Pladform is a Russian digital distribution system for licensed video content. It has been a part of the unified company “Ruform” since 2016, which also includes video hosting Rutube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ostrovok.ru</span> Russian online hotel booking service (e. 2010)

Ostrovok.ru is a Russian online hotel booking service founded in 2010 by Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky with HQ in Moscow. It has over one million accommodation options. According to SimilarWeb, the number of users of the service was estimated at 5.4 million in August 2018. As of 2018, the company's turnover is estimated at $713 million. Ostrovok.ru partners include Megafon, HotelsCombined, TripAdvisor, Sheremetyevo Airport, Aviasales.ru, and Kayak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almaz Capital</span> International venture fund

Almaz Capital is a global VC fund investing in early stage, capital efficient technology companies in high-growth sectors. Almaz Capital focuses on disruptive deep tech companies in b2b software space, including AI/ML and Blockchain applications, IoT and Edge Computing Enablers, Cybersecurity, etc. Since its foundation the firm's portfolio has included about 50 companies, with more than 300 million US dollars invested in them.

The Antipinsky Refinery is a Russian oil refinery located in south-east Tyumen, Tyumen Oblast, adjacent to the Tyumen trunk oil pipelines and the Tyumen-3 pumping station. It is amongst one of the larger refineries in Russia, participating on the Urals and West Siberian oil market, where it is the only refinery in operation in the Ural Federal District. As of 2022, it is Russia’s largest privately-owned oil processing plant, with a total processing capacity of nine million tonnes of crude oil per year. It is also the only oil refinery constructed in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yury Maksimov</span> Russian entrepreneur

Yury Vladimirovich Maksimov is a Russian entrepreneur and programmer. He co-founded Positive Technologies, serving as its CEO from 2007 to 2021. In 2021, he was appointed advisor to the Minister for Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media of the Russian Federation on a voluntary basis.

«Sibur-RT JSC», formerly known as «TAIF JSC», is a Russian investment holding and oil company, headquartered in Kazan. As of 2008, it processed up to 98% gas and chemical and petrochemical products in the Tatarstan region. By 2015, it incorporated a number of subsidiary companies, including TAIF-Invest, TAIF-ST, TAIF Service, Avers bank, Avers insurance company, TVT and Novy Vek television companies, Karsar and TAIF-Telecom. In 2019, the company was listed among the largest private-owned corporations in Russia. In April 2021, it merged with the Sibur petrochemicals holding. In April 2022, the company changed its name to «Sibur-RT JSC».

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilya Perekopsky</span>

Ilya Evgenievich Perekopsky is a Russian-born entrepreneur, manager, and investor. Vice President of the VKontakte network (2006-2014), Vice President of Telegram since 2018. Founder of Blackmoon Financial Group and the Blackmoon Crypto startup.

References

  1. 1 2 Анна Бараулина, Ирина Резник (2007-06-15). "Загадочный проект Щербовича". Vedomosti. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  2. ↑ Юлия Чайкина, Павел Миледин (2010-08-27). "Выгодно все, что связано с потреблением". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  3. 1 2 Елена Березанская, Елена Тофанюк, Елена Зубова, Пётр Руденко (2013-08-22). "Правила успешных инвестиций от 10 известных финансистов // Илья Щербович". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2016-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Юлиана Петрова (2007-07-30). "Из пустого в порожнее". Kommersant.
  5. ↑ "Дойче Банк объявил о назначении новых менеджеров". Kommersant. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  6. ↑ Мария Разумова (2008-04-17). "UCP взяла директора департамента из Дойче Банка". Kommersant.
  7. ↑ "Михаил Трофимов перешел из "Атона" в UCP". Finparty.ru. 2011-07-05.
  8. 1 2 Ольга Мордюшенко, Анна Пушкарская (2016-10-31). "Росимущество выступило за мир". Kommersant.
  9. ↑ Галина Старинская, Игорь Цуканов (2016-08-22). "Не по нашей вине в нескольких сделках мы оказались в конфликтных ситуациях". Vedomosti.
  10. ↑ "Глава UCP Илья Щербович: кризис — время покупать активы". RIA Novosti. 2016-06-15.
  11. ↑ Кристина Бусько, Анна Рябова, Владимир Соловьев (2007-04-26). "Владимир Груздев нашел партнера". Kommersant.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Кристина Бусько, Юлия Куликова, Анна Рябова (2007-10-23). "UCP расширяется на "Модном континенте"". Kommersant.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Галина Зинченко (2013-02-04). "Миллиардер Груздев променял бизнес на политику, но бизнес его семьи продолжает расти". Forbes.
  14. ↑ Антон Вержбицкий (2016-03-29). "Жертва Внешпромбанка: Владимир Груздев лишился части состояния". Kommersant.
  15. ↑ Софья Корепанова (2008-12-23). "UCP – акционер "Прогресса"". Vedomosti.
  16. ↑ "Инвестфонд United Capital Partners купит долю в производителе детского питания, который входит в "Лебедянский"". Sostav.ru. 2008-04-21.
  17. 1 2 Григорий Пунанов (2010-08-27). "Сделки United Capital Partners". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2016-05-29. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  18. ↑ Гюзель Губейдуллина (2008-07-10). "Новый акционер РТС". Vedomosti.
  19. ↑ "Консорциум инвесторов во главе с UCP приобрел у Московской биржи долю в Санкт-Петербургской бирже". Vedomosti. 2013-11-27.
  20. ↑ Станислав Елисеев (2013-10-24). ""Норникель" продает НПФ "Наследие" Щербовичу за $85 млн". Slon.ru.
  21. ↑ Мария Яковлева, Дмитрий Ладыгин (2013-10-16). "UCP поделила "Наследие"". Kommersant.
  22. ↑ Алиса Фиалко, Александра Терентьева (2011-07-19). "Нефть для банкира". Vedomosti.
  23. ↑ Галина Камнева (2011-12-16). "Щербович продал алмазы". Vedomosti.
  24. ↑ Денис Ребров, Тамила Джоджуа (2010-06-07). ""Интегра" поменяла установку". Kommersant.
  25. ↑ "UCP можно докупить "Уралмаш"". Vedomosti. 2012-08-16.
  26. ↑ Анатолий Джумайло (2015-04-17). ""Стройгазконсалтинг" поделили пополам". Kommersant.
  27. ↑ "Бывший акционер "ВКонтакте" вышел из капитала Челябинского цинкового завода". Slon.ru. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  28. ↑ Юрий Барсуков (2017-09-04). "Eurasia Drilling пошла навстречу UCP". Kommersant.
  29. ↑ Елизавета Серьгина (2015-08-23). "Apple Watch сделали ставропольский "Монокристалл" мировым лидером". Vedomosti.
  30. ↑ Александр Поливанов (2013-04-17). "Вконташа: не ваша и не наша". Lenta.ru.
  31. ↑ Владислав Новый, Роман Рожков (2013-04-17). "United Capital Partners купила 48% "В контакте"". Kommersant.
  32. ↑ Елена Тофанюк, Дмитрий Филонов (2014-03-20). "Театр Дурова: почему основатель "ВКонтакте" проиграл битву за социальную сеть". Forbes.
  33. ↑ Nikolay Kononov (2013-05-13). "Дуров, верни сеть: Как основатели "ВКонтакте" потеряли контроль". Hopes & Fears.
  34. ↑ Даниил Александров (2013-04-17). "Щербович покупает 48% "ВКонтакте"". Slon.ru.
  35. ↑ Владимир Лавицкий (2014-02-27). "Сеть социального напряжения". Kommersant.
  36. ↑ "Во "ВКонтакте" опровергли слухи о "растратах" Дурова". Lenta.ru. 2014-03-05.
  37. ↑ Софья Гройсман (2014-09-16). "Mail.ru стала единоличным владельцем "ВКонтакте"". Slon.ru.
  38. ↑ Юлия Ярош, Евгений Калюков (2014-09-16). "Mail.ru Group выкупила 48% акций "ВКонтакте" у UCP за $1,47 млрд". РБК.
  39. ↑ "Илья Щербович созрел для интернет-инвестирования, но миллиардов не отдаст". Roem.ru. 2014-11-25.
  40. ↑ "Миссия выполнена: как заработать на рынке частных услуг". Forbes. 2015-11-19.
  41. ↑ "АФК "Система" поможет пользователям по дому". Kommersant. 2016-07-14.
  42. ↑ Мария Тодорова (2016-05-20). "UCP Ильи Щербовича оказался владельцем 6,8% капитала "Транснефти"". Forbes.
  43. ↑ "Бумажный спор с реальными последствиями". РАПСИ. 2016-11-25.
  44. ↑ Тимофей Дзядко (2016-06-01). "Фонд UCP упрекнул менеджеров "Транснефти" в потере "астрономических сумм"". РБК.
  45. 1 2 Ирина Мокроусова (2016-05-23). ""Транснефть" косвенно контролирует треть своих привилегированных акций". Forbes.
  46. 1 2 Алина Фадеева, Тимофей Дзядко (2017-05-23). "Газпромбанк раскрыл структуру владения "префами" "Транснефти"". РБК.
  47. ↑ Виталий Петлевой (2017-03-31). "Нашелся продавец пакета "Транснефти" на $3 млрд". Vedomosti.
  48. ↑ Олег Вахитов (2012-03-19). "Миноритарии "Газпром нефтехим Салавата" рассчитывают войти в совет директоров компании". Kommersant.
  49. ↑ "Консолидация ГНС "Газпромом" может завершится к осени". Kommersant. 2012-06-26.
  50. ↑ Иван Песчинский (2016-10-10). "На продаже пакета "Интер РАО" UCP заработала 350%". Vedomosti.
  51. ↑ Тимофей Дзядко (2016-10-16). "Миллиарды на Индию: почему "Роснефть" с партнерами приобрели Essar Oil". РБК.
  52. ↑ Татьяна Дятел (2017-08-21). "Essar Oil получила российский контроль". Kommersant.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.