EastOne LLC’s portfolio includes more than 20 businesses
Interpipe group, the industrial and media holding owned by billionaire Viktor Pinchuk, has shifted its prime assets to a new London-registered investment fund in line with plans to go public on a major Western market.
EastOne LLC’s portfolio includes more than 20 businesses, including the Interpipe steel-pipe and railway wheel manufacturing factories, interests in three national television channels, the Fakty daily newspaper and the Zaporizhya-based specialized steel producer Dniprospetsstal.
Interpipe officials estimated that all of the assets to be managed by EastOne will amount to about $10 billion. The Post’s sister publication, Korrespondent, estimated that Pinchuk, son-in-law to former President Leonid Kuchma, was worth $7 billion and was the second wealthiest person in Ukraine.
Gennadiy Gazin was appointed CEO of the newly created London company. Gazin has headed the Interpipe group for the last six months.
He told the Post that establishing EastOne is in line with the group’s mission to better manage “investment flows and value of portfolio [of assets] in such a way in order to provide maximum…income from portfolio investments and to create a platform for long-term growth.”
Gazin, who worked in the New York and Moscow offices of the McKinsey & Company consultancy before joining Interpipe, said London was chosen, “since it is a financial capital of Europe, a main European investment platform.”
He said the company will seek to diversify its portfolio and complete large acquisitions outside Ukraine: M&A deals conducted by EastOne LLC this year alone will amount to about $3 billion.
EastOne foresees a reduction of Ukrainian assets from 90 to 50 percent through acquisitions outside of the country.
“We must become a truly international company,” he said, adding that the group has sufficient resources, reputation and competence to become a good partner in global investments.
EastOne is currently involved in various investment projects in the US’ Silicon Valley, Central Europe, the CIS and Ukraine. The projects include IT, real estate, retail trade, logistics, and financial services.
