Spanish investment fund wants to sell stakes in Romanian companies

Spanish investment fund Ged Capital wants to sell its stakes in the local companies by the end of this year, reports local Ziarul Financiar. It plans to sell the shares it holds in the Continental hotel chain, Diamedix healthcare provider, and Happy Tour tourism agency, according to market sources. The company is currently in talks with strategic investors for each company where the fund has shares. This is a long-term process, and the fund will sell the stakes only if it’s a favorable exit, the same sources said. Ged Capital, with a market capitalization of EUR 150 million, also owns shares in the local energy firm TEB and Infopress, a private player on the local print market. Ged entered Romania in 1996 with a EUR 44 million fund, which later sold its shares at an average multiple of 2.5 times the invested money. In 2005 Ged came with the second private equity fund (Ged Eastern Fund II), with EUR 150 million for investments. Last year, Ged managed to sell the tour operator Prestige Tours to the Turkish investor Mustafa Kadiroglu. editor@romania-insider.com