27th Jul 2007 07:01
Aurora Russia Limited27 July 2007 27 July 2007 Aurora Russia Limited completes second stage of investment in Unistream Bank Aurora Russia Limited ("Aurora Russia" or the "Company"), the AIM-quotedinvestment vehicle established to make equity or equity-related investments insmall and mid-sized private companies in Russia, announces today that it hascompleted the second stage of its investment in Unistream Bank ("Unistream").This brings the Company's total shareholding in Unistream to 26%. Aurora Russia initially invested $13.6 million (£6.9 million) for a 17.7% stake,which was announced in April 2007. Having just received approval from theCentral Bank of Russia to take a stake of over 20% in Unistream, Aurora Russiahas purchased an additional 8.3% stake for $6.4 million (£3.1 million).Management accounts show that $1.85 billion was transferred through Unistream in2006 making it one of the leading money transfer companies in Russia. Managementhave also stated that by June 2007 its monthly volumes had reached $300 million,representing approximately a 90% increase over the same period in 2006. James Cook and John McRoberts, two Directors of Aurora Russia Limited,commented: "We have been delighted with the investment in Unistream to date and are pleasedto have secured this increased holding. The Russian money transfer marketcontinues to show extremely high rates of growth and is one of the fastestgrowing money transfer regions in the world. " Enquiries Aurora Russia LimitedJames Cook, Moscow +7 495 644 1662John McRoberts, London +44 (0) 20 7839 7112 Investec Investment BankingRupert Krefting +44 (0) 20 7597 5133Paul Gray +44 (0) 20 7597 5176 Financial DynamicsEd Gascoigne-Pees +44 (0) 20 7269 7132Felicity Murdoch +44 (0) 20 7269 7243 Notes to editors: Aurora Russia Aurora Russia floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London StockExchange on 24 March 2006. The Company has been established to make equity orequity related investments in small and midsized private Russian companiesfocused on the financial, business and consumer services sectors where theDirectors believe there is potential for growth together with viable exitopportunities within two to four years of making such investments. The Companyintends to provide its investee companies with the necessary capital to continueto expand and develop. The Manager shall provide hands-on operational support todeliver significant step changes in performance and value creation. Aurora Russia targets companies with Enterprise Values of up to approximately£100 million and seeks to secure blocking or controlling stakes and boardrepresentation. The Company intends generally to take equity stakes of greaterthan 20% in each portfolio company. It is anticipated that each equityinvestment will typically be between £5 million and £25 million. About Unistream Unistream Bank is an international money transfer network with considerablemarket share in Russia and CIS countries. Management information shows that with approximately 800,000 clients served in2006, Unistream transferred over $1.85 billion in 2006, up from $750 million in2005. In the first and the second quarters of 2007, remittance volumes exceeded$495 million and $792 million respectively. Unistream operates through 46,000points of service in 85 countries across the world. In the countries of theformer Soviet Union, Unistream handles around 25% of the cross-border remittancemarket, delivering its service at over 150 proprietary dedicated branches andover 7,000 agencies throughout the CIS. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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