Argentem Creek Partners, successful and significant projects, information about the founder of the company
Argentem Creek Partners
Argentem Creek Partners is an investment company registered in the USA. Founded in 2015. Headquartered in New York. The company has several offices in the northern and central states of the United States, as well as in other countries. ACP has offices in Argentina, Great Britain, UAE, Ukraine, where the company has been operating since its foundation.
ACP founder Daniel Chapman
Entrepreneur Daniel Chapman brought together the best people from Black River Asset Management, a division of Cargill, to Argentem Creek Partners.
Since it was founded in 2015, Argentem Creek Partners has successfully implemented investment projects worth more than $2.5 billion. ACP's portfolio includes more than 75 companies from 20 countries with which ACP has collaborated on various projects. The company has invested in many sectors of the economy, including agriculture, light and heavy engineering, industry and more.
The most important activities of Argentem Creek Partners: business investments, lending, capital transactions, search and implementation of solutions for distressed assets. Argentem Creek Partners helps in business restructuring, provides tailor-made management solutions.
In particular, Argentem Creek Partners implements the unique solutions, investing in complex cases in developing countries. One of the attractive markets for ACP since its foundation has been the Ukrainian market. Based on the experience of employees who previously worked in Ukraine, the company managed to achieve excellent results.
Argentem Creek Partners pays great attention to the deep study of the business environment of the future of its project. To do this, various market studies are used, a network of internal partners, who perfectly know and understand the peculiarities of not only the country, the economic sector, but also other political and economic peculiarities of the project, is developed.
Argentem Creek Partners faces challenges and stands for justice in the Ukrainian market
Argentem Creek Partners is a company well-known around the world. This is an international investor with the portfolio of successful cases, mutually beneficial and efficient. However, the investment case with Olimpex Coupe International is still more of an exception to the rule. Initially, ACP invested in Olimpex Coupe International to increase productivity, expand the business, improve its transparency.
Olimpex Coupe International is part of the GNT Terminals group of companies, registered in Cyprus, controlled and managed by Odessa businessmen Serhiy Groza and Volodymyr Naumenko. Olimpex Coupe International operates a grain transshipment complex in the port of Odessa. The investment project between Argentem Creek Partners and Olimpex Coupe International was signed four years ago with a return on investment expected in two years. By early December 2021, outstanding receivables had reached $160 million. The company refused to pay its debts, referring to the difficult situation in the country, the beginning of large-scale invasion. However, an investigation by the ACP showed a different picture. In fact, Olimpex Coupe International has manipulated with the data and, without providing information to the investor, carried out illegal activities in the shipment and transshipment of grain.
At the very beginning, the debtors asked to restructure the debts, give them a deferral, guaranteed payments, but then they began to oppose, implementing various schemes for the withdrawal of capital. ACP experts found that, despite GNT's claims of underfunding, $41.6 million went to related companies.
Also, the company of Groza and Naumenko tried to use Ukrainian banks for a fictitious withdrawal of money, trying to maintain control over the funds. In particular, in February 2023, when ACP initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Olympex Coupe International due to the company's refusal to pay a debt of more than $75 million, the Ukrainian bank Pivdenny initiated the recovery of half of the grain terminal, appointing its sale to a third party. This operation violated the legislation of Ukraine, as it was carried out before the expiration of the mandatory 30-day period from the date of receipt of notifications by the representatives of the debtor and the pledger. This can be explained by an attempt by Odessa entrepreneurs to secure their funds.
Such actions on the part of Olimpex Coupe International severely limit the ability to find a compromise with debtors, forcing American businessmen to file a legal claim. Argentem Creek Partners Ltd, having vast experience in working with risky investments, tried to draw the attention of GNT Group representatives to flagrant violations of law and contracts.
ACP projects in Ukraine
For more than 8 years, Argentem Creek Partners has been operating in the Ukrainian market. During all this time, the company has invested $600 million in Ukrainian business. ACP's business focus is on companies operating in the agricultural business, logistics, renewable energy, and metallurgy.
One of the brightest Ukrainian cases implemented by Argentem Creek Partners was an investment in Interpipe. Due to the outbreak of war with Russia in 2014, Interpipe lost a large market and was forced to reconfigure its activities. In 2017, ACP, in partnership with other companies, restructured the largest player in the Ukrainian metallurgical market. As a result, the business began to generate profits, and the workplaces were not cut.
In 2016, Argentem Creek Partners started investing in bonds of DTEK Energy, the largest heat generating company in Ukraine. The investment is not finished yet. DTEK Energy operates the largest wind and solar power plants in the country.
With Lemtrans, a leading private rail operator, Argentem Creek Partners began cooperation in 2018 by buying out leases from a bank that was closing. Lemtrans is one of the leaders in private transportation in the country, using more than 20,000 gondola cars, annually transporting 52 million tons of various cargoes. To date, Lemtrans has invested more than $500 million to purchase new gondola cars. This investment by ACP effectively solved the problems with land agreements, revitalizing the company's future activities.
Another bright project of Argentem Creek Partners was the restructuring and reorganization of the MRIYA Agroholding. Following the Russian Federation's invasion of eastern Ukraine in August 2014, one of Ukraine's largest agricultural enterprises defaulted on its bonds and loans. Despite financial success and steady growth, the company has faced significant mismanagement and misappropriation of finances. Accordingly, the company's debt of more than $1 billion was put up for sale. Argentem Creek Partners has acquired debt from major holders and has taken the lead in restructuring and reorganizing this agribusiness with a significant land bank of 320,000 hectares in Western Ukraine.
After the reorganization, in 2019 Argentem Creek Partners sold the company to a strategic investor in the agricultural sector. This transaction has become one of the largest in the history of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. The success of the project attracted new investments from major strategic investors.
This case was a best practice: external creditors gained control over a Ukrainian company through bankruptcy proceedings in an offshore jurisdiction and their claims were recognized. As a result of all the implemented actions, ACP has achieved excellent indicators of transparency and management within the enterprise. The investments were fully implemented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the measures taken.
The projects implemented by Argentem Creek Partners in Ukraine highlight the company's commitment to revitalize and optimize business in the agricultural, steel, energy and transportation sectors. Through strategic investments and careful restructuring, ACP has successfully transformed businesses in these industries, promoting transparency, governance and sustainable growth. These achievements have not only created workplaces, but also attracted additional investment from key stakeholders, strengthening the reputation of Argentem Creek Partners as a reliable partner capable of creating positive changes in the country.
International Projects of Argentem Creek Partners
Cooperation with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO)
Argentem Creek Partners recently announced plans to establish a local headquarters in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).
The project is part of ADIO's AED2 billion ($545 million) innovation program to support companies in high-growth economic sectors. Abdullah Al Shamsi, Acting CEO of ADIO, highlighted the positive impact of Argentem Creek Partners in Abu Dhabi on the development of sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, trade finance and food security.
Cooperation with AHMSA
At its shareholder meeting on April 20, 2023, steel company Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) agreed to purchase an additional share of the share capital for its business in accordance with the agreements entered into with Argentem Creek Partners, appointing her as the new controller.
According to the steel company, the solutions proposed by ACP were the most suitable. The financial details of the transaction will be made public as soon as the final contracts are concluded and the funds are transferred to trust management in the name of both parties.
Cooperation with Salmon
As it has recently become known, Salmon, a consumer fintech company, made a significant announcement, revealing that it has successfully obtained a substantial debt facility of USD 20 million. This financial boost comes courtesy of Argentem Creek Partners, a specialized investment firm with a focus on emerging markets in the United States. The newfound capital infusion will play a crucial role in propelling Salmon's lending operations to new heights, with the Philippines as the prime target for expansion.
Expressing enthusiasm and confidence in this partnership, Maarten Terlouw, the President and Co-CIO of Argentem Creek Partners, emphasized their commitment as long-term, value-driven investors. Enthused by Salmon's mission to enhance financial inclusion, the investment firm is eager to provide unwavering support throughout the region.