Macquarie Bank and Renaissance Capital announce infrastructure advisory and funds management joint venture in Russia and other CIS countries

06 August 2007

Macquarie Bank and Renaissance Capital today announced they have agreed to establish a joint venture to develop infrastructure advisory and fund management opportunities in Russia and other CIS countries.

The 50:50 joint venture, Macquarie Renaissance, will bring together a leading independent emerging markets investment banking firm and a global leader in the infrastructure sector.

“We are delighted to be making this announcement today,” said Mr Jim Craig, Head of the Macquarie Group in Europe. “The Macquarie Renaissance partnership is uniquely placed to participate in the development of infrastructure opportunities in Russia and other CIS countries, in collaboration with the public sector and other stakeholders. We see many opportunities in this market that we believe are well suited to our long-term infrastructure approach.

“There is significant need to renew and expand infrastructure in order to facilitate economic growth throughout the region and for more parts of the region to benefit from this growth. The Russian Government has highlighted this need and the potential role of the private sector in improving the existing infrastructure and accelerating the development programme. Macquarie and Renaissance Capital are committed to being a key player in this development leading up to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and beyond,” Mr Craig said.

Mr Alexander Pertsovsky, global CEO of Renaissance Capital said, “We believe the combination of our established track record and relationships in the region together with Macquarie’s global experience and leading infrastructure expertise offers substantial benefits to the public sector, both in terms of funding of infrastructure projects and the overall quality of services offered to users”.

“It is estimated that up to US$200bn will be spent on infrastructure in Russia over the next five or so years, excluding the oil and gas sector. While the Government will provide most of the funding, there is an expectation that the private sector will support this development with additional funding required,” Mr Pertsovsky said.

“Investors appreciate that the macro-economic situation in Russia is strong, with foreign reserves in excess of US$400bn, investment grade ratings from Moodys and Standard & Poors and strong flows of foreign direct investment. However the Russian economy is much more diversified than most people appreciate. Resources are obviously very important and dominate exports but domestic demand is a significant and growing part of GDP,” he said.

The Macquarie Renaissance partnership has a team of 10 dedicated finance professionals in place. Macquarie Renaissance is based in Moscow and will leverage Renaissance Capital’s presence across the CIS region and Macquarie’s global infrastructure network.

EDITORS NOTES

About Renaissance Capital (www.rencap.com)
Renaissance Capital is a leading emerging markets investment banking firm in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Renaissance Capital has market-leading positions in each of its core businesses – M&A, equity and debt capital markets, securities sales and trading, research, and derivatives. Renaissance Capital is part of the Renaissance Group.

About Renaissance Group (www.renaissancegroup.com)
Renaissance Group is an independent group of investment banking, asset and wealth management, merchant banking, and consumer finance companies specialising in high-opportunity emerging markets. Renaissance Group operates in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Cyprus, across Sub-Saharan Africa, the British Virgin Islands, Switzerland and Bermuda.

About the Macquarie Bank Group (www.macquarie.com)
The Macquarie Bank Group (Macquarie) comprises Macquarie Bank Limited and its worldwide affiliated entities. Macquarie is a leading global investor and manager of infrastructure businesses.  Members of the Macquarie Bank Group manage more than €36bn (US$49bn) in equity invested in infrastructure and essential service assets around the world through a range of listed and unlisted vehicles, and have achieved a return to investors of 19.8%* pa over 11 years. Infrastructure investments managed by Macquarie include investments in the energy, water, telecommunications and transportation sectors in the UK, Germany, Portugal, Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, US, Australia, Korea, Japan and South Africa.  Macquarie-managed businesses: provide water to 5m households; distribute gas via 6.7m connections; deliver electricity to 750,000 households; serve 110m airport passengers per year; and 2.2m cars drive on our roads per day. Macquarie aims to manage its investments in essential community infrastructure profitably and responsibly.

*Annualised return based on all capital raised, distributions paid and valuations (market capitalisation for listed funds and net asset value for unlisted funds) for Macquarie’s Investment Banking Funds Division funds since inception to 31 June 2007 (listed funds as at 31 June 2007, unlisted funds as at 31 December 2006).  Calculated in AUD.  Cashflows converted at historic rates. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

For further information, please contact:

Karen Smith
Corporate Communications Manager
Macquarie Bank
Tel: (44) (0) 20 7065 2420