Category: Estonia

Sorainen has advised Baltic private equity investment fund Livonia Partners on its acquisition of Klaasimeister, an Estonia-based glass processing company. The transaction remains contingent on the approval of the Estonian Competition Authority.

Sorainen describes Klaasimeister as “a leading float and speciality glass processor specializing in providing insulated glass units and other glass products to complex facade projects.” According to the firm, “the company was established in 1997 and today operates a modern state-of-the-art production facility 30 kilometers from Tallinn. Throughout its history Klaasimeister has successfully serviced customers across Scandinavia and completed some of the most marquee projects such as Oslo airport and Helsinki library among others.”

The Sorainen team was led by Estonia Managing Partner Partner Toomas Prangli and included Senior Associates Piret Lappert and Piibe Lehtsaar and Associate Nele Suurmets.

Sorainen did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.  

Ellex Klavins has advised Air Total International on the sale and transfer of its shares in SIA Gulfstream Oil.

Founded in 1995, Air Total International is a Swiss-based member of the Total group. The company supplies jet fuel to the aviation industry.

The Ellex Klavins team was led by Associate Partner Maris Brizgo.

Ellex Klavins did not reply to our inquiries about the deal.

Ellex Raidla has advised Arealis on the sale of the Microsoft Office Building in Tallinn to LHV Pension Funds and Lumi Capital. Eversheds Sutherland advised Lumi Capital on the deal.

The main tenant in the building, which was formerly known as the Skype Building, is the Estonian branch of Microsoft’s Development Center, which focuses on developing cloud-based communication platforms and other Microsoft services.

AS Arealis is a subsidiary of AS Nordic Contractors that specializes in the development of real estate. It consolidates investments and development projects, for the most part, into commercial buildings and apartment buildings in Estonia and Lithuania.

LHV offers both actively and passively managed second and third pillar pension funds. The total value of its pension funds is EUR 1.3 billion.

Lumi Capital is a real estate investment management company serving private investors, pension funds from Estonia, and foreign property investors.

The Ellex Raidla team included Partner Martin Kaerdi and Associate Karin Tartu.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Eversheds Sutherland informed CEE Legal Matters that its team included Managing Partner Maivi Ots, Senior Associate Dmitri Zdobnoh, and Lawyers Erika Tuvike, Kristi Joemets, Jaanus Rihkrand.  

Cobalt and Linklaters have advised the Zeppelin Group on its acquisition of Tallinn’s Baltic Marine Contractors from the Pon Group.

Zeppelin has been active in the sales and service of Cat construction and mining equipment, as well as Cat and MaK engines, since 1954. Today, the Zeppelin Group operates more than 200 sites around the world. Its head office is in Garching, near Munich.

Baltic Marine Contractors is the official dealer and service provider of MaK engines in the Baltic States and in Finland.

According to Cobalt, the acquisition  of Baltic Marine Contractors was a part of a larger transaction that saw Zeppelin taking over the distribution and service of Cat products in Sweden, Denmark, and Greenland, as well as distribution and services for MaK engines in the Baltic States, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

Cobalt’s team consisted of Partner Martin Simovart, Specialist Counsel Jesse Kivisaari, Partner Karina Paatsi, and Assistant Lawyer Getter Villmann.

Cobalt informed CEE Legal Matters that it was unable to disclose additional information about the deal.

Sorainen, working with Sweden’s Hansen Law, has advised Xllnc Nordic on the acquisition of Estonia’s Replace OU.

Replace, which was founded in Estonia in 2016, has over 250 employees and revenues of more than EUR 70 million in 2019. Its electronic asset management service offering includes B2B and B2C refurbishing and re-marketing of used mobiles and IT equipment. Xllnc delivers IT lifecycle management solutions to large corporations, the public sector, and schools. Xllnc is majority-owned by Norvestor, a private equity firm in the Nordic region. In 2019, Xllnc and Replace will have combined revenues of approximately EUR 300 million.

The Sorainen team included Partner Piret Jesse, Senior Associates Piret Lappert and Jane Eespold, and Associates Robin Teever and Oliver Amarik.

Sorainen did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.  

Ellex Raidla has advised Enefit Green and Nordic Environment Finance Corporation on the sale of their shareholdings in Vinni and Oisu biogas combined heat and power plants to Infortar.

The transaction involves a 100% sale of shares in 4E Biofond, a minority shareholder in Vinni Biogaas and Oisu Biogaas, owners and operators of the Vinni and Oisu biogas CHP plants. 

Enefit Green is a renewable energy company owned by the Estonian state-owned energy group Enefit. It produces electricity and heat from wind, water, solar, biomass, and municipal waste in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and owns a pellet factory in Latvia. 

NEFCO is an international financial institution established in 1990 by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, with the aim of having a positive impact on the climate and environment.

4E Biofond cooperates with Estonian farmers to convert waste into biogas for the production of heat and electricity. 

Infortar is a private investment group in Estonia with interest in shipping and transportation, hospitality, real estate, printing, trading, financial service industries, and energetics.

The Ellex Raidla team included Partner Martin Kaerdi and Counsel Triin Frosch.  

Ellex Raidla has helped international transport and logistics company Operail open a subsidiary in Finland and invest EUR 50 million to begin freight transport on Finnish railways.

Operail is an international railway logistics and transport company whose main business lines are freight transport, wagon rental, and rolling stock maintenance and construction. It has a fleet of more than 3,500 wagons, with almost 2,200 wagons leased to international customers.

The Ellex Raidla team included Partner Ermo Kosk, Counsel Dmitri Rozenblat, and Senior Associate Rauno Klemm. 

Sorainen has advised Livonia Partners and its portfolio company Thermory AS on the acquisition of a majority share in Siparila Oy, a Finnish wood-processing company specializing in exterior and interior panels and cladding.

Thermory is an Estonian wood-processing company that produces solid wood floors and terraces, lining boards, and sauna materials using thermal processing technology. It is the world’s largest producer of thermally processed wood and sauna materials. Siparila is a producer of high-quality wood materials.

According to Sorainen “this new add-on investment creates a group with more than EUR 100 million in revenues, and with manufacturing and sales capability in key regions internationally.”

The Sorainen team included Partner Toomas Prangli, Senior Associate Juulika Aavik, and Associate Robin Teever.

Sorainen did not reply to our inquiry on the matter. 

Former Ellex Raidla Senior Associate Rutt Vark has become head of M&A at PwC Legal Estonia.

Vark has more than ten years of experience advising clients on complex transactions and projects. She spent almost two years at Ellex Raidla, after spending the previous six at Primus and the three years before that at Lawin, before the Estonian office of that firm joined Cobalt.

According to Viljar Kahari, Managing Partner of PwC Legal Estonia, the M&A transactions field is one of the core strategic areas of the firm: “We work with a number of successful tech companies and investors who often need advice with investing and making transactions in dozens of countries at the same time. Our capability of offering services through a single point of contact via the PwC network in all corners of the earth while making use of the extensive knowledge gathered by PwC’s tax and business consultants in preparing transactions are some of the reasons for top players to see unique career opportunities at PwC.”

Vark described the ability to make use ot PwC’s network in advising Estonian clients as professionally exciting. “Estonian transactional lawyers are very professional and it’s always an honor to participate in negotiations with highly professional colleagues. I see a development opportunity for myself primarily through getting international experiences at PwC Legal, as the company services 95 states globally.” She noted that, in addition, she also appreciates gaining a broader understanding of transactions:.“While planning a transaction there are so many additional aspects than just legal advisory, such as valuation, the structure of the transaction, financial and tax due diligence, [and] reasonable risk management, as well as creating value with the merger of organizations. I now have the opportunity to consult with my new colleagues from PwC’s tax and advisory in these matters on a daily basis and I very much hope that we will have a chance to advise clients in ground breaking and challenging projects.” 

Ellex Raidla and Hannes Snellman have advised Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. on its USD 31.8 million acquisition of Pro Farm Technologies Oy. The Magnusson Law Firm advised the sellers on the deal.

The transaction closed on September 13, 2019. As a result of the acquisition, Pro Farm became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marrone Bio.

Pro Farm Technologies Oy, a Finnish agriculture technology company supplying nutrient and bio-stimulant technology and products, is a parent company of Estonia’s Pro Farm OU.

Marrone Bio Innovations focuses on the discovery, development, and sale of biological products for crop protection, plant health, and waterway systems treatment. MBI’s commercial products include Regalia, Stargus, Grandevo, Venerate, Majestene, Haven and Amplitude, Zelto and Zequanox.

The Ellex Raidla team providing advice on Estonian matters consisted of Partner Risto Vahimets, Counsels Dmitri Rozenblat and Eneken Tikk, and Senior Associates Karl-Erich Trisberg, Kaisa Laidvee, and Reet Saks.

The Hannes Snellman team advising on Finnish matters included Partners Tuire Kuronen, Antti Alanko, Heikki Vesikansa, and Panu Siitonen, Specialist Partners Johanna Haltia-Tapio and Klaus Metsa-Simola, Senior Associates Riikka Kuha, Johan Hagerstrom, Heidi Karki, and Noora Britschgi, and Associates Tero Pikkarainen, Matias Moberg, Pauliina Sutinen, Beata-Maria Pippingskold, and Silja Kanerva.

The Magnusson team consisted of Advocate Jaanus Magi and Associate Ketlin Peterson.