Goldman Sachs halts new business with oligarch-linked private equity group

Goldman Sachs halts new business with oligarch-linked private equity group

Goldman Sachs and Kirkland & Ellis have paused new business with Pamplona Capital Management, the $9bn private equity firm whose firepower comes mostly from sanctioned oligarch Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne investment group.

The moves by two of Pamplona’s largest and most regular advisers are a blow to the buyout group, at least 80 per cent of whose funds come from LetterOne, according to two people familiar with the matter.

US bank Goldman and law firm Kirkland are not the only advisers to question their links to Pamplona amid a scramble to understand how far to cut ties with entities that are not sanctioned but have links to Russian oligarchs who are.

Waystone, a Cayman Islands firm that provides directors for private funds in the tax haven, resigned from all of its roles in relation to Pamplona funds on 4 March, days after the EU imposed sanctions on Fridman and Petr Aven, another LetterOne shareholder.

UBS, Houlihan Lokey and Nomura are also taking legal advice in relation to dealing with the private equity group, with their next steps unclear, people with knowledge of the matter said. The banks declined to comment.

Pamplona itself said last week that it would hand back LetterOne’s money as it seeks to