Category: Estonia

Varul, the Estonian member of Tark Grunte Sutkiene, has advised the shareholders and management of Citypark Eesti, one of the largest parking services providers in Estonia, on the sale of 100% of its shares to Stova, a member of Lithuania’s Modus Group. Cobalt advised Stova on the deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The privately-held Citypark Eesti was established in 2008 and owns 6500 parking spaces in Tallinn. Varul describes it as being “one of the market leaders in providing long and short term parking services in Estonia, including construction of parking areas, devising traffic solutions and maintenance thereof.”

Stova already provides parking services under the Unipark brand in Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus. The company also plans to expand to Poland. In addition to providing parking services, the parent company of Stova, the Modus Group, is active in car dealership, renewable energy, service business, and real estate.

The Varul team was led by Associate Partner Kadri Kallas.

The Cobalt team was advised by Partner Peeter Kutman, Senior Associate Triin Ploomipuu, and Associate Madis Reppo.

Ellex Raidla is advising East Capital Explorer’s on the sale of its 38.3% shareholding in the Trev-2 Grupp to the Baltcap Private Equity Fund.

The Trev-2 Grupp focuses on the construction and maintenance of infrastructure. Its major shareholders are the East Capital Explorer investment fund (with a 38% shareholding) and Baltcap Private Equity Fund (with 36%). East Capital Explorer has estimated the fair value of Trev-2 Grupp in its portfolio to be EUR 6.2 million.

East Capital is being advised by Ellex Raidla Partner Risto Vahimets, Counsel Tonis Vahesaar, and Attorney Sven Bottcher.

Triinu Hiob, Partner at Estonia’s Njord law firm, has been appointed by the Republic of Estonia as one of the country’s members on the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.

Established in 1965, ICSID — the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes — is an international arbitration institution established for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors. It is part of and funded by the World Bank Group and headquartered in Washington, D.C. As of May 2016, 153 contracting member states have agreed to enforce and uphold arbitral awards in accordance with the ICSID Convention, which entitles each Member State to designate up to four persons to the Panel of Arbitrators and up to four persons to the Panel of Conciliators. Triinu Hiob was designated to serve on the Panel of Arbitrators. 

Over the past 20 years, four claims have been filed to ICSID arbitration against Estonia, most recently, in 2015, by AS Tallinna Vesi and the parent company of the United Utilities group.

Glimstedt has advised Levikom in launching the world’s first “open value chain” IoT network.

Glimstedt describes Levikom as “the leading wireless broadband, media and corporate IT infrastructure services provider in Estonia.” According to the firm, “Levikom is teaming up with Actility, the industry leader in LPWA (Low Power Wireless Access) solutions …. To deliver this ground-breaking business proposition, Levikom and Actility will upgrade the NORAnet network across Estonia to offer 2nd generation carrier-grade IoT connectivity services with multiple radio access, also enabling high-value geolocation services powered by LoRa devices and wireless technology from Semtech (SMTC), a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, and accessible via Actility’s ThingPark platform. A key focus of Levikom’s IoT roadmap will be smart utilities: Smart Metering and Smart Energy applications for electricity, gas, water and heating companies.”

Glimstedt advised Levikom in negotiating what the firm calls “this unique contract with Actility.” The firm’s team was led by Partner Priit Latt and included Senior Associate Triin Siil and Associate Mari-Liis Orav.

Attorneys Aivar Pilv and Anneli Aab from Leadell Pilv in Estonia have successfully defended clients Karl and Kaarel Liivapuu in Harju County Court against a civil claim for damages of over EUR 127,000 based on allegations that they improperly influenced “a member of management board … to perform a transaction harmful for the company by selling an apartment under its market value.”

According to Leadell Pilv, “the court did not establish the existence of influence over the company or the following illegal use of influence, [and] therefore the claim for compensation was not proved and was not satisfied.”

The plaintiffs have 30 days to appeal the decision of the court of first instance.

Njord has assisted bitcoin gambling operator bitcasino.io establish a bitcoin gambling operating company — Kopikas Entertainment OU — with only bitcoins as share capital contribution. According to Njord, “the share capital contribution in bitcoins was one of its kind and the first in Estonia and most likely in the world.”

One million euros worth of bitcoins were paid into the share capital and the transaction was audited by global auditing company BDO.

The transaction was led by Njord Partner Anne Veerpalu and included Partner Katrin Sarap.

Primus has advised Skeleton Technologies on a EUR 15 million “quasi equity” financing from the European Investment Bank. The EIB loan is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

Primus describes Skeleton Technologies as “Europe’s leading producer of ultracapacitors and ultracapacitor based energy storage solutions built with graphene-type materials.”

The EFSI-backed financing will allow the company to finance the R&D for the further development of its products and systems. Skeleton Technologies had previously raised EUR 26.7 million of capital investments and the EIB “quasi equity” financing brings the total financing to EUR 41.7 million. According to Primus, “the financing will allow Skeleton Technologies to better serve its customer base, which includes German automotive manufacturers, leading global engineering companies and the European Space Agency.”

The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2016, the EIB provided Estonian projects with loans totaling EUR 430 million.

The Primus team was led by Special Counsel Toomas Kasesalu and Partner Ermo Kosk.

Image Source: skeletontech.com

Glimstedt has advised Estonian-based Guardtime on its contract to design the next generation NATO cyber range defensive platform with the Estonian Ministry of Defense. 

Guardtime, which Glimstedt describes as “the world’s leading blockchain company,” has been awarded a contract by the Estonian Ministry of Defense, under the auspices of NATO, to design a next generation system for the NATO cyber range defensive platform. 

Glimstedt describes the cyber range as “a unique platform for cyber defense training exercises, training, and testing related activities,” and reports that “the aim of the system is to provide NATO range users with secure and timely preparations, options, and collaboration.” Martin Ruubel, President of Guardtime Estonia, commented that when designing and building the defense-focused exercise ranges, “Guardtime always aims at the principle: we train as we fight.”

The Glimstedt team was led by Partner Priit Latt and included Senior Associate Triin Siil and Associate Mari-Liis Orav.

Glikman Alvin has advised JSC BM Bank (the former Bank of Moscow) – a member of the VTV Group – on the transfer of its 59.7% stake in the Estonian Credit Bank to Coop Eesti and Inbank. Ellex Raidla acted for Coop and Inbank, while Supremia Attorneys at Law advised the mediator of the share sale.

As a result of the acquisition, Coop Eesti and Inbank will gradually increase their shareholding in Eesti Krediidipank to 75%. The new bank will be called Coop Pank as of autumn. 

The transaction will be done in two stages. In the first stage, Coop Eesti will acquire 60 percent and Inbank 10 percent of Krediidipank. Then the new bank will acquire the joint subsidiary of Coop Eesti and Inbank  – Coop Finants – and the joint subsidiary of Eesti Krediidipank and Inbank – Krediidipank Finants – and as a result of this the shareholdings in the new bank will be distributed 55% to Coop Eesti and 25% to Inbank. The aim of Coop and Inbank is to also buy out the remaining 20% of the minority shareholders of Krediidipank and include an additional financial investor to the transaction during 2017.

According to Coop manager Jaanus Vihandi, the aim is to provide everyday banking services in places where major banks have left in recent years. “Coop is Estonia’s biggest, unique associated organization with 80,000 customer owners and nearly 600,000 loyal customers and it consists of 19 associations. It is important for Coop’s customer owners and loyal customers that they do not have to drive tens of kilometers for elementary banking services,” explained Vihand.

Eesti Krediidipank is one of the oldest credit banks in Estonia. The bank was founded by the former president of the Central Bank Rein Otsason and Estonian entrepreneurs. 

The Glikman Alvin team was led by Partner Paul Keres.

According to Ellex Raidla Partner Raino Paron, who led the firm’s team on the matter, in addition to acquiring the shares, an important part of the firm’s assistance was advising Coop on acquiring permission from the European Central Bank for gaining control over Krediidipank. Paron was assisted by Senior Attorney Helen Metsar, and Attorney Martin Maesalu.

Partner Tarvo Lindma of the Supremia Law Office advised the mediator who mediated the sale of shares of Eesti Krediidipank from Bank of Moscow to Coop/Inbank.

Leadell Pilv has successfully represented AbeStock AS, Viimsi Kaubanduskeskus OU, and ABC Vara AS before the Estonian Supreme Court in a dispute over their alleged joint and several liability for a EUR 4.6 million debt (plus interest).

According to Leadell Pilv, “with the resolution of February 1, 2017 the Supreme Court established that the county court as well as the circuit court were correct by refusing to proceed the statement of claim since the violation of rights of the claimants was impossible based on the factual circumstances of the claim.”

The Leadell Pilv team was led by Partner Britta Oltjer.