US equity house Advent International has set up its fourth fund, ACEE IV, which is to invest EUR 1bn in four Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria . The fund plans to acquire stakes worth EUR 30mn to EUR 100mn of specific companies but additional resources from the international funds of the company may be used to finance larger projects. This would help the selected companies to take leading positions on the market and to strenghten their development abroad. Advent has supported eight companies from five countries from Central and Eastern Europe in the last three years. Advent took over the country’s largest ceramics producer Han Asparuh and the local software developer Sophis Technology last year. It controls also Herlitz Bulgaria , Vinolit, and Roma Plastic. Advent International also participated in the privatisation of 65% of the landline telecom BTC, which was resold to AIG Capital Partners last year.