Financial News

December 20, 2007

Goldman Sachs has beaten competition from several western financial institutions to buy a stake in Ukraine’s largest investment bank.

Dragon Capital has sold a small minority stake in itself to Goldman in a move the Ukrainian firm’s managing director and controlling shareholder, Tomas Fiala, said would enhance the business.

Fiala said: “We’ve received interests from many western investment banks wanting to take a minority holding or strategic stake. We decided having Goldman Sachs on our shareholder register would add the most to our business.”

Goldman Sachs and Dragon Capital declined to comment on the size of Goldman's holding or how much the US bank had paid for the stake.

Dragon Capital was established in 2000 and now employs 120 staff. It is the largest broker on the Ukrainian stock market with a market share of 34%, as well as providing investment banking services, including merger and acquisitions advisory and equity underwriting.

The investment by Goldman Sachs is purely financial; however it has worked with Dragon Capital before, most frequently on deals connected to the Ukrainian real estate market.

Renaissance Capital, the Moscow-based investment bank, is often held up as the model for Dragon Capital, and Renaissance has enjoyed huge success on the back of the boom in the Russian capital markets.