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ECM Partners
ECM Partners directs its strategic focus to opportunistic investments across Central and Southeastern Europe. Since 2015 it has served as a local strategic...
ECM Partners
ECM Partners directs its strategic focus to opportunistic investments across Central and Southeastern Europe. Since 2015 it has served as a local strategic partner to global institutional investment firms, guiding them in some of the region's largest deals. Origins trace to National Finance Corporation (NFD), founded in 1994 as part of Slovenia's early privatization scheme.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
1994
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Slovenia
City
Ljubljana
Corporate office
Dunajska 167, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Additional offices
Nicosia, Cyprus · Zagreb, Croatia · Athens, Greece
Principals
Savvas Liasis
Chairman
Ales Skoberne
Chief Executive Officer
Dejan Rajbar
Chief Investment Officer
Andrej Prah
Chief Legal Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at ECM Partners?
Chief Investment Officer Dejan Rajbar leads investment decisions. A CFA charterholder with over two decades in regional capital markets, he chairs several investment and audit committees of portfolio companies managed by ECM internationally.
How does ECM Partners source proprietary deal flow?
ECM leverages what it calls a 'Deep Value' approach, originating off-market opportunities through identified balance-sheet restructurings, collateral mispricing and secondary distressed trading. The firm's long-standing regional relationships — traceable to the original National Finance Corporation privatization team in 1994 — combined with local offices in Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus and Greece, underpin its pipeline in a high-barrier-to-entry market.
Does ECM Partners manage discretionary funds or only co-invest alongside external funds?
Both. The firm raised its Elements Credit Opportunities fund series — backed by Slovenian pension funds and insurers — for discretionary investing, while simultaneously sourcing and managing non-discretionary co-investment mandates alongside unnamed global institutional funds. In 2021 it completed its first discretionary LBO, a €90 million healthcare transaction.
Which sectors does ECM Partners target?
The firm's opportunistic mandate spans industrial manufacturing, healthcare services and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, real estate and hospitality. Portfolio board seats link ECM directly to assets such as European pharma CMO Famar and Ygia Polyclinic in Cyprus. The strategy is sector-agnostic, driven by distressed entry points and value-creation potential.
Is ECM Partners a single family office?
No. ECM is a licensed alternative asset manager headquartered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, that evolved from a legacy financial group through a 2015 change of ownership. It manages discretionary credit and private equity funds and co-invests alongside international institutional funds, functioning as a regional buyout and special-situations platform rather than a family office.
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