Positive outlook for Private Equity investments in Slovakia, “oPeniazoch.sk”
Bratislava, Slovakia – According to domestic and foreign Private Equity and Venture Capital investment experts, the Slovak Private Equity market should be active over the next three years, and there are optimistic expectations for the next three to five years.
According to the experts who debated the subject during a panel discussion under the auspices of the law firm CMS and Executive Search firm Pedersen & Partners, Slovakia offers many new opportunities, and has even greater potential than its neighbours, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The panellists stressed that Slovakia's political stability makes it attractive for investors. Unlike the Czech Republic, Slovakia has the Euro currency and a long-standing Prime Minister (the second longest-serving across the EU) – encouraging signs of stability for investors in comparison with the economic and political uncertainty of the neighbouring countries. These aspects have attracted the attention of investors from Western Europe, who seek opportunities with higher returns.
Despite the advantages of the Slovak market, the Czech Republic is seen as a larger market with better facilities and infrastructure. However, many consider the Czech and Slovak markets to be very similar, and because of their shared past, most investors come to Slovakia via Czech subsidiaries.
According to the investment experts, the specific characteristics of the Czech and Slovak markets have led to an increasing number of family investment firms competing with traditional Private Equity firms. Many domestic entrepreneurs who have been building their businesses for the last 20 years are now starting to face the problem of succession. The children of many entrepreneurs remain to live and work abroad after graduation, and do not want to take the helm of the family business. This in turn brings new business opportunities for Private Equity firms in the near future, so we can expect very interesting developments.
Photo credit: CMS
Sune Christiansen is a Regional Client Partner, the Country Manager for Slovakia and the Head of the Industrial Practice Group. During his career with Pedersen & Partners, Mr. Christiansen has completed in excess of 200 senior level assignments across the Industrial, Technology, and other sectors. He joined the firm in 2008 and has more than fifteen years of experience in operations management and business development. Prior to joining Pedersen & Partners, he was the Operations Manager at Divani Recliner in Slovakia and the Owner & Managing Director of Scan Homes in Bulgaria. He has an Economics degree from Esbjerg Business Academy in Denmark.
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