Papa Oscar Ventures: Fashion investor ends up on US sanctions list

Alexander Studhalter

The Swiss investor is on the US sanctions list.

(Photo: Alexander Studhalter)

Zurich Christian Ogait, the CEO and founder of venture capital firm Papa Oscar Ventures, is always on the lookout for new, up-and-coming fashion companies between Barcelona and Berlin. His company was not active in Russia. Ogait was all the more surprised that his Frankfurt-based company is now on the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list.

A deal with a Swiss entrepreneur got Papa Oscar Ventures an entry on the US government’s ban list. In July 2021, Ogait sold the majority of his company to the Swiss Alexander Studhalter and his Swiss International Investment Portfolio AG. Studhalter has been on the US sanctions list since last week as a suspected trustee of oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

A lawyer for Papa Oscar Ventures said at the request of the Handelsblatt: Mentioning the company’s name in the statement from the US Treasury Department is a formality because Studhalter’s investment company holds 51 percent of Papa Oscar Ventures. “After we became aware of the sanctions, we immediately commissioned the reversal of this investment under company law.” At the same time, Studhalter is leaving the company’s advisory board.

As a result, the 50 percent rule no longer applies, according to which all majority holdings of a sanctioned person automatically appear on the US sanctions list, the lawyer explained. “After the departure of Swiss International Investment Portfolio AG, we will arrange for the Papa Oscar companies to be removed from the OFAC sanctions list.”

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Studhalter defends himself against allegations

Studhalter himself vigorously counters the allegations: “The fact is that I have not had any activities in Russia since 2017 and I have had no business connection with Mr. Kerimov since 2013.” The investor described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s washing as “wrong and unfounded”. Studhalter stated, “I will defend myself against these defamatory allegations.”

sports 1

The German sports broadcaster is one of the holdings of the Swiss.

(Photo: Getty Images)

If the US government maintains the allegations against Studhalter, this could also have consequences for other investments by the Lucerne entrepreneur. Through a multi-level holding structure of the Basel-based media group Highlight, Studhalter is also an indirect shareholder in the TV station Sport 1 and the film studio Constantin. The investor has temporarily withdrawn from the Board of Directors of the Highlight Group and its subsidiaries.

>> Also read: Raid on UBS in Frankfurt – suspected money laundering against oligarchs

It is unclear how his indirect participation in the German media brands will continue. The board of directors of the Basel media conglomerate is in talks with Studhalter about his participation, a spokesman explains. “However, Mr. Studhalter’s room for maneuver in this regard is limited due to the requirements of the US sanctions.”

The rumor has persisted since 2017 that Studhalter only helped finance the takeover of German Constantin Film by the Swiss Highlight Group as a straw man for Kerimov. The Lucerne entrepreneur has always contradicted this. Unlike Papa Oscar Ventures, this investment structure cannot be unbundled so easily.

More: USA put Swiss citizens on the sanctions list for the first time

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