TAU.L Regulatory News (TAU)

9 May 2007 08:00

Tau Capital PLC09 May 2007 Tau Capital plc: First Day of Dealings on AIM and Placing Tau Capital plc ("Tau" or the "Company"), an investment company investing inboth public and private business based in Kazakhstan and the surroundingregions, is pleased to announce its admission to AIM, earlier today, under theticker symbol 'TAU', following a share placing with institutional investors.Numis Securities is acting as both Nominated Adviser and broker to Tau. Admission Statistics Market capitalisation at the Placing Price US $ 251,000,002 Gross proceeds of the Placing US $ 250,000,000 Placing Price per Ordinary Share US $1 Number of Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission 251,000,002 Overview Tau Capital plc is a newly incorporated investment company established to allowinvestors the opportunity to realise returns through investing in both publicand private businesses that are established, operating or have exposure toKazakhstan. Although Kazakhstan focused, the Company will also seek investmentopportunities in the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan andRussia. These investments are proposed through the utilisation of the knowledgeand skills of a highly connected and credible management team with a trackrecord of successful investments in these countries. Spencer House Compass Capital Limited will act as the manager to the Company andwill be responsible for identifying, structuring and monitoring investments. TheManager will delegate its responsibilities to Spencer House Capital ManagementLLP and Compass Asset Management Limited a subsidiary of VISOR Holding LLP, theInvestment Advisers, who together have experience in both investment andoperational activities in Kazakhstan and the wider region since the mid 1990s,as well as the structuring of private company investments and asset management.The Investment Advisers will target a broad range of sectors, including oil andgas exploration and production, metals and mining, transport and logistics,consumer-related, telecommunications, financial services and business services. Quotes: Lord Rothschild, Chairman of Spencer House Capital Management Limited,commented, "I have been pursuing with great interest developments in Kazakhstan. VISOR areone of the country's leading private equity and asset management groups, and weare privileged to be involved in a joint venture with them. I have confidencethat investors in this Fund will benefit from the wealth of investmentopportunities in Kazakhstan and its neighbouring countries." Aidan Karibjanov, Chairman of VISOR Holding, commented, "we are delighted to be working with Spencer House Capital Management to createTau Capital. Whilst Kazakhstan's economy has developed rapidly it offers veryexciting investment opportunities which are not yet reflected in the stockmarket. We also see very attractive investment potential in our neighbouringcountries." Investment Strategy The Company aims to: • invest in Public Equities of companies with assets in Kazakhstan or in the Investment Countries (or whose business has exposure to Kazakhstan or in the Investment Countries), who have securities listed on the KASE or any other stock exchange or are otherwise traded on over-the-counter markets in Kazakhstan, the Investment Countries or internationally; and • provide equity and equity-related investment capital to Private Companies operating in or with business exposure to Kazakhstan and further in the Investment Countries (or whose business is located within Kazakhstan or an Investment Country) who are seeking capital for growth and development, consolidation or acquisition, or as a pre-IPO round of financing. Investments may also be made in Special Situations if the Manager considers the investment to be of a type in keeping with the aims of the Fund. The Directors shall target a broad range of sectors including oil and gasexploration and production, metals and mining, transport and logistics,consumer-related, telecommunications, financial services and business servicesas they believe that these sectors in each of Kazakhstan and the InvestmentCountries' economies provide capital appreciation opportunities for investors. Once fully invested, the Fund will have a minimum of 50 per cent. of its assetallocation in Public Equity and up to 50 per cent. in Private Companies andSpecial Situations, although the initial investment made by the Fund will nearlyall be made in Public Equities. Public Equities When investing in Public Equities, the Company will seek to invest a majority ofits funds in a core portfolio of approximately 10 investments which, in theopinion of the Manager, provide the best medium term (one to two years) valuecreation potential. These core positions will typically be between 5 per cent.and 15 per cent. of the NAV of the Fund. The Manager will seek to select "national champions" within Kazakhstan or the Investment Countries or companieswith strong positions or strong growth potential in their respective sectors.The Company will seek to deploy the balance of the funds in shorter-term (lessthan one year) tactical holdings, typically each up to 5 per cent. of the Fund'sNAV. Private Companies and Special Situations The Company intends generally to take minority equity stakes of greater than 10per cent. in each Private Company and may seek to secure board representationwhere it considers that the Company and/or an investee company would benefitfrom such an appointment. The Company may take controlling positions in investeecompanies from time to time. The Board Philip Lambert, Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director Philip is the Chairman of the Investment Committee of the ABP and a member ofthe Supervisory Board of Robeco. Throughout his career Philip has beenextensively involved in the European pension industry in Europe. He was a memberof the Pension Managers Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the NewYork Stock Exchange. Philip was a member of the Investment Committee of theNational Association of Pension Funds in the UK. He was a member of the AdvisoryCommittee to the ABN AMRO Investment Funds and is now a member of the InvestmentCommittee of the ABN AMRO Pension Fund. Richard Horlick, Non-Executive Director Richard is the CEO and a founding partner of Spencer House Capital Management,LLP. Prior to this, he was a main board director of Schroders plc where he washead of investments and a member of the General Management Committee. From 1994to 2002, Richard held a number of positions at Fidelity. He was president andCEO of Fidelity Management Trust Co the institutional investment arm of Fidelityin the US and also the Trust Bank for the Fidelity Mutual funds. Richard waspreviously responsible for the investment and development of Fidelity'sinstitutional business outside the US, and was a member of the operatingcommittee of Fidelity International. Between 1984 and 1994, he was a directorand portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management. Almas Chukin, Non-Executive Director Almas is the Chairman of Compass Asset Management and a partner of VISOR. He hasbeen involved in the economic affairs of Central Asia for the last 20 years.Almas has held various government positions in the Kyrgyz Republic including hisroles at the Ministry of Finance (Head of the Industrial Department), Ministryof Foreign Affairs (Ambassador to the United States), and the State PropertyFund (Deputy Chairman) where he was responsible for various aspects ofgovernmental strategy from internal policy issues to cooperation with theInternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Since leaving government andentering the private sector in 1997, Almas has worked primarily in the financialsector of Kazakhstan and has played a pivotal role in the development of thispart of the economy. While his main focus has been on private equitytransactions, Almas was also actively involved in the public securities marketduring his tenure as a Managing Director of a major broker-dealer. Hisexperience also includes being Deputy Chairman and CFO of Halyk Bank ofKazakhstan, the country's largest retail bank and Chairman of Temir Bank. Robert Brown, III, Independent Non-Executive Director Robert is the Chairman of Ramler Media Limited, a leading integrated mediacompany providing services to the global Russian-speaking community whose sharesare listed on AIM with a current market value of approximately US$700 million.He is also a trustee and the Vice Chairman of the Investment Committee of theUS$1.0 billion endowment of Carnegie-Mellon University, and a director ofseveral early-stage Russian businesses. Robert has been involved in investmentbanking and private equity activities in the former Soviet Union since 1992.From 1995 to 1998, he was the Managing Director and Head of Corporate Financefor Creditanstalt International Advisors, a New York-based subsidiary ofCreditanstalt Investment Bank. Robert established the investment bankingoperations for CAIB in Russia through the acquisition of Grant Financial Group,a leading Russian securities broker. Prior to joining CAIB, Robert worked from1978 to 1994, including 10 years as a Managing Director, at Lehman Brothers inNew York City. He was Co-Head of the bank's Public Finance Division between 1990and 1994. He led the development of Lehman Brothers' business in Russia duringthe period 1992 to 1994. Philip Scales, Independent Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary Philip Scales is Managing Director of IOMA Fund and Investment ManagementLimited. Prior to this, Philip was the Managing Director of Northern TrustInternational Fund Administration Services (Isle of Man) Limited. Philip hasover 30 years' experience of working offshore, primarily in corporate and mutualfund administration. A director of a number of listed companies, Philip is aFellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Philip is anative English speaker. Tau Capital plc +44 (0) 20 7647 8558Richard Horlick Public Relations consultant +44 (0) 7816 770 758Damien McCrystal Numis Securities Limited +44 (0) 20 7260 1000Oliver Hemsley / Nick Westlake Unless stated otherwise, capitalised terms used in this announcement have themeanings ascribed to them in the admission document of Tau Capital plc dated 3May 2007. 9 May 2007 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange