BCR Pensii reports first PE-type investment for a Romanian private pension fund

The mandatory private pension fund (Pillar II) managed by BCR Pensii, part of the Austrian Erste Bank Group, reported it placed RON 4.3 mln in assets from the category of private equity - the first investment of this type for a Pillar 2 fund since they were launched in May 2008.

"We are talking about investments in two private equity funds, CEECAT Capital II and Black Peak Capital, which we financed together with multilateral financial institutions, such as EIF, EBRD or IFC. [Our] investments in the two funds will continue," Radu Crăciun, general manager of BCR Pensii, told Profit.ro.

Speaking about further such placements, Crăciun said that he was looking forward to seeing first the new form of the norm that regulates the investments of pension funds, which is underway at the Financial Supervision Authority (ASF).

In June 2021, Black Peak Capital closed the first round of capitalization, raising EUR 68.5 mln for its investment fund Black Peak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund - compared to a final target of EUR 120 mln.

In the spring of last year, CEECAT Capital Fund II raised EUR 120 mln for investments in small and medium-sized companies in Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey, in the first round of financing that had as investors institutions such as the EBRD, the European Fund Investment Funds (EIF), but also pension funds. The fund wants to invest in SMEs in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

(Photo: Gabriel Petrescu | Dreamstime.com)