Bratislava, January 22, 2008 – The Slovak financial group Arca Capital has sold its remaining third share in the Pilsner engineering company Czech Precision Forge, a.s. (CPF). Thus Arca Capital crowned a five-year investment project during which CPF succeeded in the restructuralization and almost tripled its orders.

In April 2003 the company purchased Czech Precision Forge, a.s. (CPF) company, a part of ŠKODA Plzeň concern, dealing with the production of metal castings, such as shafts, truck axles, cogwheels etc. The capital for the financing of the acquisition and initial operating capital in the amount of EUR 4,7 mil. was provided by the private equity group of Arca Capital.

CPF started to be managed by experienced international team consisting of Vladimír Rada, Miloslav Havlík, Jack Levy and Henry Danziger. “The team ordered the company to make a complete restructuralization in the sphere of finance, markets, energy sources and production equipment. We ended the production of small castings, because there was the largest competition in this sphere and the products brought the lowest value. At the same time we have extended the product portfolio of CPF by products for new markets (aviation and automotive industries) and treatment of new raw materials (aluminum, copper)“ Ing. Henrich Kiš, project manager of Arca Capital says.

The new capital also enabled a renewal of technical and production equipment. The significant decision about the change of energy source (from technological heat to compressed air) has brought an annual saving in the amount of almost EUR 700,000.

The main customers of CPF operate in the energy industry, automotive industry, aviation and machinery engineering, e.g. Rolls-Royce Marine, MAN B&W Diesel, ŠKODA POWER, GENERAL ELECTRIC and others.

Arca Capital and managerial team agreed at the acquisition about the future exit in the form of MBO (management buy-out), when the management is entitled on the basis of the option contract to progressive purchase of the entire company. The purchase was made progressively, the management already had 34 per cent in its possession in 2004, at the end of 2005 another 32 per cent was purchased and the entire MBO transaction was completed in 2007.

About Arca Capital Group
Arca Capital is the private equity and real estate group of holding type, which has its representation in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Great Britain. It plans for the future new and, from the point of view of capital, demanding projects from the sphere of private equity and real estate in Slovakia, as well as in the Czech Republic, but especially in Ukraine, where it has broadened its representation. The group makes investments in enterprises from the branches of food industry, energy, construction, telecommunications, information technology and biotechnology. In the previous year it acquired, inter alia, a share in the Czech telecommunication company GiTy, a.s.. In the sphere of food industry, it became the only owner of the company MARILA BALÍRNY, a.s. and has acquired also 30-per cent share in MORAVIA ENERGO, a.s., which is an important distributor of electric power in the Czech Republic. For the time being, the activities of the group in Slovakia are focused on developer projects such as the construction of a department house with designer furniture LIGHT PARK and residential project HUBICE DVORY. In Ukraine, the large residential project Seven springs and the construction of two logistic centres is currently being prepared. Arca Capital group now administers assets in the total amount of approx. EUR 125 mill. In December of last year, the group issued company bonds in the amount of SKK 500 mil. which enables to share its project financing for possible individual investors.

Additional information:
Monika Dobrovodská
Arca Investments, a.s.
tel.: (+421) 2 5825 3514,
GSM: (+421) 903 771 656
e-mail: dobrovodska@arcainvestments.sk
www.arcacapital.sk