Macquarie and Rencap name joint venture leaders

Financial News
Jason Corcoran in Moscow
01 Oct 2007

Investment banks Macquarie and Renaissance Capital have appointed Igor Yurgens and Paulo Almeida to run their new Russian infrastructure joint venture.

Yurgens and Almeida, as chairman and chief executive respectively, will lead a Moscow-based team developing infrastructure advisory and fund management opportunities in Russia and the CIS countries.

As Renaissance’s head of Government affairs, Yurgens is responsible for relations with the Kremlin and Government institutions, which will be key if the venture is to take part in the anticipated boom in pubic/private partnership projects for infrastructure. Almeida is an associate director at Macquarie in London.

A team of 10 has been seconded to the new venture, Macquarie Renaissance, although that figure could double as investment grows.

Chris Baxter, Renaissance senior partner and Macquarie’s head of infrastructure advisory for Europe, will be closely involved and sector-specific experts from Macquarie’s London office may also be drafted in. It is estimated that up to $200bn will be spent on Russia’s creaking infrastructure in the next five years, excluding the oil and gas sector.

Bankers representing the joint venture are believed to be talking to Western institutions about investing in a new Russian-dedicated infrastructure fund. Some of the world’s biggest pension schemes, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Netherlands ABP, are investors in Macquarie’s European fund.

Bob Foresman, deputy chairman of Renaissance Capital, said: “The joint venture is working on several opportunities and we plan to close some acquisitions in the coming months. We are obviously interested in new projects, such as the tunnel under the Neva river in Saint Petersburg.

“Russia is in dire need of transport and energy infrastructure and the private sector must collaborate with the public sector to help overcome this need.”

www.efinancialnews.com