Texas Pacific Group is recruiting in Russia and is set to open an office in Moscow as part of its expansion into central and eastern Europe.

Stephen Peel, a partner at the private equity group in London, is leading the initiative and is spending most of his time in Russia and the former Soviet Union looking at investment opportunities. Texas Pacific has an office in London and uses local consultants in different countries. A spokesman said the firm was close to finding premises in Moscow and was recruiting support staff. The move makes Texas Pacific one of only a handful of western buyout firms to establish a presence in Russia. Its decision comes four months after rival Carlyle Group pulled the plug on its $300m (€237m) Russian fundraising, precipitating the departure of three of its Russian office's four staff. In June, Texas Pacific became the first private equity house to invest in another emerging market, Turkey, when it bought a 90% stake in Mey Içki, the beverage arm of the Turkish state alcohol and tobacco company Tekel, for $810m.