Ala TV Raises $5 Million

Ala TV, a cable television operator in Kyrgyzstan, has raised $5 million in VC funding from the Aureos Central Asia Fund.

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

The Aureos Central Asia Fund (ACAsF) has invested US$5 million in the Kyrgyz television network Ala TV. ACAsF is an initiative of Aureos Capital, a leading private equity fund management company specializing in investing in small to mid-cap businesses in emerging markets.

 

Ala TV, established in 1999, is a cable-TV operator operating mainly in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It is based on the triple play services package: television, telephone and high-speed internet, all over a single broadband connection.

 

Cable TV is in its very early stages of expansion in Kyrgyzstan, with only 25% of households with the technological capacity to receive cable TV currently being subscribers. Ala TV has 21% of these households as subscribers, making the company the leader in Kyrgyzstan. Ala TV has two competitors, who combined have 4% of the total potential market.

 

Vasiliy Goncharov, CEO of Ala TV, comments: “Ala TV is the market leader in the cable TV sector in Kyrgyzstan. There is so much potential yet to be tapped in the sector and we believe that with Aureos’ investment and involvement in our company, we will be able to expand our reach and take advantage of the growing demand for cable TV in the country. Aureos’ investment will also enable us to maintain our technological leadership in cable TV and thus improve and widen our service offering.”

 

Yelena Yunussova, Aureos Partner based in Kazakhstan comments: “We were impressed by the way that Ala TV has already built up such a commanding lead in this market.”

“There is still a great potential for growth in the cable TV market in Kyrgyzstan, presenting an opportunity for Ala TV to truly establish itself as the dominant operator in the region. Consumption of more sophisticated digital services is expected to grow significantly over the coming years. We believe Ala TV has the vision, capacity and technical exertise to grab hold of a significant portion of this expanding market in Central Asia.”

 

This is the second investment for the Aureos Central Asia Fund, the first being its US$10 million investment in Leasing Group JSC of Kazakhstan.

 

AUREOS CAPITAL LTD

 

Aureos Capital Ltd is a unique private equity fund management company, domiciled in Mauritius, which specialises in providing expansion and buy-out capital to unlisted mid-cap businesses across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

 

 It was formed in July 2001 to assume management of a range of funds originally sponsored by CDC Group plc and to raise and manage a new generation of private equity funds under the Aureos brand.

 

Today, the Shareholders in Aureos comprise employees, along with CDC Group plc, Norfund and FMO which are, respectively, the British, Norwegian and Dutch development finance institutions. 

 

Since 2001, Aureos has increased its funds under management to over US$900 million and extended its geographical footprint to over 50 emerging markets covering Asia, Africa and Latin America, by establishing 16 regional private equity funds.

 

Investors in Aureos funds include institutional investors, bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions, fund of funds, family offices and foundations and high net worth individuals.